By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate on Monday drew a firm line against the rollover of unimplemented budgets, even as it defended continued borrowing as inevitable in the face of Nigeria’s widening fiscal deficit and persistent revenue shortfalls.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Adeola, made the position clear at the public hearing on the 2026 Appropriation Bill, stressing that the era of budget extensions was over and warning Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to brace for stricter oversight.
“Never again will the National Assembly approve budget extensions,” Adeola declared.
“We must discipline our budgeting cycle, enforce strict timelines and ensure stronger coordination between policy formulation and implementation.”
While acknowledging growing public concern over Nigeria’s rising debt profile, Adeola argued that borrowing had become unavoidable given weak and unpredictable revenue inflows and the country’s enormous infrastructure and development gaps.
“Nigeria cannot help but keep borrowing because revenue inflows are uncertain and development needs are enormous,” he said. “What should concern us is not borrowing itself, but how we borrow and how we finance our deficits.”
He admitted that debt servicing was consuming a significant portion of government revenue but insisted that Nigeria must meet its obligations to protect its credit rating and international standing.
To avoid crowding out private-sector credit, Adeola said the government was deliberately limiting domestic borrowing while exploring alternatives such as asset optimisation, privatisation, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), joint-venture asset leveraging, and Eurobond issuances.
Economist and fiscal policy expert Dr Olatilewa Adebajo warned that Nigeria’s growing deficit could become unsustainable without urgent reforms to revenue mobilisation and fiscal discipline. He called for stricter enforcement of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, describing it as a powerful but underutilised tool.
“We need to remain proactive and vigilant. Revenues meant for the government must actually reach government coffers,” Adebajo said, raising concerns about alleged massive leakages in the mining and solid minerals sector.
He alleged that foreign interests, particularly Chinese firms, extract Nigeria’s mineral resources with minimal benefit to the country, describing the situation as “a wake-up call.”
He urged the government to base budgets on realistic revenue projections.
Also speaking, Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), Hon. Bashir Abubakar, decried persistent waste in public spending, citing abandoned projects, inflated contracts and weak execution by MDAs as key drivers of fiscal stress.
“Funds are appropriated, yet outcomes are often disappointing. Strong oversight and accountability mechanisms are essential if Nigerians are to get value for money,” he said.
In response, Adeola urged the executive to deepen the use of PPPs, particularly in infrastructure development, to ease pressure on public finances. He also insisted that electricity subsidies must be fully removed, arguing that subsidy payments had drained scarce resources.
“Trillions of naira were spent annually on subsidies with borrowed funds,” he said.
“Removing them laid the foundation for the reforms we are beginning to see, and power sector reforms must be completed.”
On the 2026 budget, estimated at ₦58.47 trillion, Adeola described it as a “Budget of Consolidation,” anchored on subsidy removal, tax reforms, public finance restructuring and power sector reforms.
Projected revenue stands at ₦33.19 trillion, leaving a deficit of about ₦25.27 trillion, while debt service is estimated at ₦15.90 trillion.
Earlier, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by his deputy, Barau Jibrin, said budget hearings must go beyond ritual allocations to measurable outcomes.
“Our task is not simply to spend more, but to spend better; not merely to allocate funds, but to translate budgets into real impact for Nigerians,” he said.
