By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate on Tuesday threw its weight behind President Bola Tinubu’s ₦58.47 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill, applauding its heavy investment in infrastructure, security and macroeconomic stability, while cautioning that faithful implementation would be crucial to translating ambitious figures into tangible benefits for Nigerians.
The endorsement followed extensive debate on the general principles of the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” which scaled second reading amid broad bipartisan support.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio subsequently referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Appropriations for detailed scrutiny, mandating it to report back within one month.
Although President Tinubu had presented a ₦58.18 trillion estimate to a joint sitting of the National Assembly last Friday, lawmakers explained that adjustments during legislative processing raised the figure to ₦58.47 trillion.
Defence and security emerged as the single largest sectoral allocation at about ₦5.41 trillion, underscoring the administration’s focus on tackling insecurity.
Leading the debate, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele described the proposal as a consolidation budget aimed at stabilising the economy after far-reaching reforms, deepening growth and strengthening public finance.
He said the bill sought approval for a total expenditure of ₦58.472 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year, comprising ₦4.097 trillion for statutory transfers, ₦15.909 trillion for debt servicing, ₦15.252 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure and ₦23.214 trillion for capital expenditure.
According to Bamidele, capital spending formed the backbone of the proposal, targeting roads, rail, power, agriculture, housing, industrial development and the digital economy to stimulate private investment, create jobs and boost productivity.
He added that the projected fiscal deficit of about 4.28 per cent of GDP remained within approved parameters.
Seconding the motion, Minority Leader Abba Moro commended the budget’s structure but warned that agriculture still faced serious challenges.
While acknowledging that food prices had eased, he noted that many farmers who had borrowed at high interest rates were struggling due to the unavailability of affordable inputs and implements.
He urged the government to address the gap during implementation.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin said he was impressed by the scale of capital allocations, describing them as unprecedented in recent legislative history.
He expressed optimism that effective implementation would significantly improve infrastructure delivery and boost the contribution of roads, rail and power to GDP.
On debt servicing, Senator Sani Musa said the ₦15.9 trillion provision was unavoidable to sustain confidence in the economy and reassure investors and development partners.
He warned that defaulting on obligations would pose grave risks, arguing that sustained investment in infrastructure, especially roads, was long overdue.
Other lawmakers echoed similar sentiments.
Senator Tahir Monguno linked the infrastructure push to job creation, predicting job-led growth rather than jobless growth, while stressing the need for robust oversight in defence spending to ensure transparency and value for money.
Former Senate President Ahmed Lawan described the proposal as historic and courageous, particularly its focus on security and development, but cautioned that political activities in 2026 must not derail budget implementation.
He also called for quicker release of funds to contractors to prevent abandoned projects.
Senator Asuquo Ekpeyong highlighted the budget’s clear priorities, including allocations of about ₦5 trillion to security, ₦3.5 trillion to education and ₦2.48 trillion to health and social services, urging the executive to outperform previous years in implementation.
At the close of deliberations, Akpabio said the Senate would give the bill thorough scrutiny, stressing that legislative approval would be matched with oversight to ensure Nigerians feel the impact of spending.
*Lawmakers rework 2025 estimate, passes ₦43.5trn repealed, re-enacted budgets
Earlier, the Senate passed a consolidated ₦43.5 trillion contained in the 2024 and 2025 Appropriations Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bills, a move lawmakers described as critical to restoring fiscal discipline and clarity in Nigeria’s budgetary process.
The passage followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Senator Solomon Adeola, which recommended repealing earlier figures and re-enacting revised sums to reflect economic realities and revenue constraints.
Under the new framework, the 2024 Appropriations Act was repealed and re-enacted, with an aggregate expenditure of ₦43.561 trillion, up from ₦35.005 trillion, mainly due to an additional ₦8.5 trillion injected into capital spending for security, humanitarian, and economic interventions.
For 2025, the Senate repealed the earlier ₦54.990 trillion budget and replaced it with a revised total of ₦48.316 trillion, rolling over ₦6.674 trillion in capital expenditure into 2026 to make the budget more realistic.
To curb the long-standing practice of running multiple budgets concurrently, the Senate also approved extending the 2025 budget implementation to March 31, 2026, to allow the completion of ongoing projects.
Lawmakers across party lines praised the exercise, with Akpabio describing it as a transformative step that would strengthen transparency and confidence in public finance management, even as the Senate turned its full attention to shaping the landmark 2026 budget.
