Women Affairs Ministry Seeks Upward Review Of N134.2bn Budget

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has requested an upward review of the N134.2 billion allocated to the ministry for the 2026 fiscal year.

This comes as the Senate, through its Committee on Women Affairs, frowned at the extremely poor cash releases for the ministry’s capital and overhead components in the 2025 budget.

The minister made the appeal on Monday during a budget defence session with the Senate Committee on Women Affairs.

According to her, increasing the 2026 budgetary allocation would enable the ministry to effectively implement programmes designed to address the multifaceted challenges facing women across the country.

“In line with the plan and the need for more domestic allocations in the 2026 fiscal year, an upward review of the budget estimates for the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development should be carried out,” she said.

Responding, the Chairman of the Committee, Ireti Kingibe, described the request as a welcomed development but stressed that the issue of poor fund releases must first be addressed by the executive.

“We are not opposed to an upward review of the allocation for your ministry in 2026, but the problem of abysmal fund releases, as reflected in your presentation on the 2025 budget appropriation and releases, is a serious concern to us. That issue must be resolved first,” she said.

Earlier, while presenting the performance of the 2025 budget and projections for 2026, the minister disclosed that out of the N89.8 billion appropriated for capital expenditure in 2025, only N394 million was released in December, and the amount was not utilised.

“The same situation occurred with the overhead allocation in 2025, where only N471 million was released out of the N2.8 billion appropriated,” she added.

She further stated that for the 2026 fiscal year, a total of N134.2 billion has been earmarked for the ministry, comprising N2.1 billion for personnel costs, N131.2 billion for capital expenditure, and N810.9 million for overhead costs.

James Itodo, Edited By Grace Namiji