Asian Basic and Applied Research Journal

Budget-making in Nigeria remains a complex aspect of governance, with frequent delays in the passage and approval of budgets often attributed to legislative constraints. Therefore, this paper examined the federal legislative oversight and budgetary delay in Nigeria by identifying the causes and proffered possible measures to resolve them. The paper adopted a qualitative research method; relevant related materials were used to examine the causes of delay in the Nigerian budgetary system. The data collected were thematically analyzed. The paper adopted structural-functionalism theory as the guided theory. The findings of this paper reveal that, since the return to democracy in 1999, the executive (Mr. President) has always failed to submit the budget proposal bill to the National Assembly, and this became so obvious in 2015-2021. Therefore, it became clearer in this paper that the delays in Nigeria's budgetary system often kick-start from the executive, and the passage of budget stages is time-consuming. There is no established time frame for the submission and approval of the budget in Nigeria, which has accounted for the incoherence in the approval of the budget in Nigeria. The paper therefore, concludes that it is expedient that a time frame is allocated for the submission of the budget proposal and its approval. The paper recommends that before the next fiscal year, the executive and legislature should jointly reform budget processes through better information sharing, capacity building, and public transparency.