The Federal Government plans to spend N92.9 billion on electricity and diesel across ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) in the 2026 fiscal year, reflecting the continued strain of Nigeria’s unreliable power supply on public finances.
This is according to data contained in the 2026 Appropriation Bill, seen by Nairametrics, which outlines proposed energy-related recurrent expenditure across federal institutions.
The allocations show that despite ongoing power sector reforms, MDAs are still budgeting heavily for grid electricity and diesel-powered alternatives to sustain operations.
What the data is saying
A breakdown of the proposed budget shows that electricity spending is widely distributed across MDAs, with defence, health, and education institutions accounting for the largest shares.
The Ministry of Defence leads electricity allocations with N16.16 billion, reflecting the energy needs of military bases, barracks, and operational facilities nationwide.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare follows with N9.43 billion, largely driven by the power requirements of teaching hospitals and federal medical centres.
The Federal Ministry of Education is next with N8.23 billion, covering electricity costs for federal universities, colleges of education, and unity schools.
Other significant allocations include the Ministry of Police Affairs (N3.69 billion), the Office of the National Security Adviser (N3.59 billion), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (N3.49 billion), which oversees Nigeria’s diplomatic missions abroad.
The Presidency is projected to spend close to N2 billion on electricity, while ministries such as Agriculture, Transport, Interior, Budget and Economic Planning, and Science and Technology each have allocations running into several hundreds of millions of naira.
Even regulatory and oversight institutions such as the ICPC, Code of Conduct Bureau, Auditor-General’s Office, and Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission have electricity provisions ranging from tens to hundreds of millions of naira.
Beyond electricity bills, the budget reveals heavy spending on diesel, highlighting MDAs’ continued dependence on generators due to unstable grid supply.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare again tops diesel expenditure with N8.29 billion, followed by the Ministry of Defence at N6.6 billion and the Ministry of Education at N5.75 billion.
The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the National Security Adviser, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together account for over N3.6 billion, while ministries such as Interior, Justice, Police Affairs, Agriculture and Food Security, Budget and Economic Planning, and Information and National Orientation each budget between several hundreds of millions and over N1 billion.
Smaller agencies including the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Police Service Commission, and Federal Character Commission also made diesel provisions, though at much lower levels.
Why this matter
The scale of electricity and diesel spending in the 2026 budget reinforces concerns about the fiscal cost of Nigeria’s persistent power challenges.
Despite repeated assurances of improved electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, the budget figures suggest that MDAs are still planning for power shortfalls rather than relying on stable grid supply.
What you should know
In 2025, the Federal Government issued the first bond under the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme, marking a major step in efforts to address longstanding payment arrears in Nigeria’s electricity industry.
Nigeria’s power sector has struggled for decades with inadequate generation capacity, transmission bottlenecks, and distribution inefficiencies.
While recent reforms have expanded state-level participation and private investment, grid reliability remains weak, especially for large public institutions.
Previous Nairametrics analyses have consistently shown rising diesel and energy-related recurrent expenditure across MDAs, demonstrating the slow pace of structural improvement in electricity supply.
