By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday presented a N58.18 trillion budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year to a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Tagged the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” the President said the 2026 Appropriation Bill is anchored on realism, fiscal prudence and growth-oriented policies.
Tinubu announced an end to Nigeria’s practice of running multiple overlapping budgets, warning that all outstanding components of the 2024–2026 budget cycle would lapse by April 2026.
“Nigeria will no longer operate multiple budget cycles. Any carry-over from previous budgets will terminate in April 2026,” he declared.
Key Budget Estimates
The President outlined the major aggregates of the 2026 budget as follows:
Expected total revenue: N34.33 trillion
Projected total expenditure: N58.18 trillion, including N15.52 trillion for debt servicing
Recurrent (non-debt) expenditure: N15.25 trillion
Capital expenditure: ₦26.08 trillion
Budget deficit: N23.85 trillion, representing 4.28 per cent of GDP
He noted that the budget is guided by the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which sets the fiscal parameters for the period.
Macroeconomic Assumptions
According to Tinubu, the projections are based on: A crude oil benchmark of US$64.85 per barre, daily oil production of 1.84 million barrels, an exchange rate of ₦1,400 to the US dollar for the 2026 fiscal year
“These figures are not just accounting lines; they are a statement of national priorities. We remain firmly committed to fiscal sustainability, debt transparency and value-for-money spending,” the President said.
Sectoral Allocations
Key sectoral provisions in the 2026 budget include:
Defence and Security: N5.41 trillion
Infrastructure: N3.56 trillion
Education: N3.52 trillion
Health: N2.48 trillion
Review of 2025 Budget Performance
Tinubu acknowledged that the implementation of the 2025 budget faced transitional challenges and competing execution demands.
As at the third quarter of 2025, he said:N18.6 trillion in revenue had been recorded, representing 61 per cent of the target, N24.66 trillion in expenditure had been recorded, representing 60 per cent of the target
He added that following the extension of the 2024 capital budget to December 2025, N2.23 trillion had been released for 2024 capital projects as at June 2025.
However, only N3.10 trillion—about 17.7 per cent of the 2025 capital budget—had been released by the third quarter, reflecting government’s focus on completing priority 2024 projects.
Warning to Economic Managers
The President issued a stern warning to economic managers, stressing that 2026 would be a year of strict fiscal discipline.
“I have directed the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Director-General of the Budget Office to ensure that the 2026 Budget is implemented strictly in line with approved details and timelines,” he said.
He expressed optimism that revenue performance would improve through the implementation of new National Tax Acts and ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector.
Security and National Stability
Tinubu emphasised that security remains the foundation of development, noting that the 2026 budget strengthens funding for: Modernisation of the Armed Forces, Intelligence-led policing and joint operations, Border security and technology-enabled surveillance, Community-based peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
He announced a new national counterterrorism doctrine and warned that any armed group operating outside state authority would be classified as terrorists, including bandits, militias, kidnappers, armed gangs and their sponsors.
“If you wield lethal weapons and act outside the authority of the state, you are a terrorist,” the President declared.
Human Capital Development
On education, Tinubu said the government is expanding access to tertiary education through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, which has supported over 418,000 students across 229 institutions nationwide.
In healthcare, he revealed that spending accounts for six per cent of the total budget, excluding liabilities, and disclosed that recent engagements with the United States government had secured over US$500 million in grant funding for targeted health interventions.
Infrastructure, Agriculture and Productivity
The President said projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda—covering transport, energy, port modernisation and agriculture—are progressing nationwide.
He stressed that food security remains a national priority, with the 2026 budget focusing on input financing, mechanisation, irrigation, climate-resilient farming, storage, processing and agro-value chains.
Commitment to Delivery and Accountability
Concluding, Tinubu said the true value of the budget lies in its execution. “The greatest budget is not the one we announce, but the one we deliver,” he said.
He outlined three guiding commitments for 2026: improved revenue mobilisation, smarter spending on measurable projects, and stronger accountability through disciplined procurement and monitoring.
“This is how we build trust—by matching our words with results and our allocations with outcomes.”
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