President Bola Tinubu has requested the Senate’s approval to increase the 2026 Appropriation Bill by N9 trillion, raising the total budget from N58.4 trillion to N67.4 trillion.
The request was conveyed in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and read at plenary on Tuesday.
The move, the president said, “aims to strengthen fiscal transparency and ensure the effective implementation of priority national programmes.”
The statement did not specify if this addition will be backed by new revenue sources or added to the record budget deficit of N23.85 trillion captured in the N58.4 trillion budget.
What the president is saying
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, which first reported this story, Tinubu listed the “three key objectives” for the request to include “regularisation and account for outstanding legacy commitments from previous appropriation cycles.”
The proposed increase, the president said, reflects efforts to address legacy obligations and consolidate government finances.
- The first objective is to regularise and account for outstanding commitments from previous appropriation cycles, preventing them from burdening the 2026 budget.
- The second is to “consolidate and capture existing government indebtedness” within the fiscal framework, while providing for a “limited number of strategic and priority projects.”
- “Thirdly, it aims to align the 2026 financing plan with revised expenditure in a manner that preserves macro-fiscal stability and reduces pressure on the domestic financial market,” he said.
The Tinubu administration has piled on debts since it came into power in 2023, relying on deficit financing to push through record budget spending. However, it has mostly failed to meet capital expenditure targets due to its sizeable debt burden.
Sources within government inform Nairametrics that the government faces a spending challenge as most of its income is directed towards debt servicing and recurrent expenditure.
Revenue is also not rising fast enough as crude oil output remains stuck at an average of 1.5mbpd, not high enough to close the deficits. Government is likely to resort to non-oil revenues such as taxes, sale of assets and grants to fund its spending.
This new request now adds further pressure on spending plans, especially as it appears geared towards funding payment obligations arising from prior budgets.
More insights
Following the submission of the letter, Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the request to the Committee on Appropriation for further legislative review.
- The committee will provide input on the proposed revision before reverting to plenary for approval.
- The approval process is expected to consider both fiscal sustainability and the funding of strategic national programmes.
- The final decision will determine whether the 2026 budget can accommodate both legacy obligations and new priority projects without destabilising the economy.
What you should know
In December 2025, President Tinubu presented the 2026 budget to the National Assembly with a N23.85 trillion deficit.
- Tinubu noted that the expected total revenue for 2026 is projected at N34.33 trillion.
- He said the total expenditure is estimated at N58.18 trillion, including N15.52 trillion earmarked for debt servicing.
- The budget also included a record deficit of N23.85 trillion, meaning this will be largely financed by fresh debt.
The 2026 budget prioritises security, infrastructure, and human capital, allocating N5.41 trillion to defence, N3.56 trillion to infrastructure, N3.52 trillion to education, and N2.48 trillion to health.
He said the budget’s assumptions are conservative, with a $64.85 oil price, 1.84 million bpd production, and N1,400/$ exchange rate.
In his address, the President said the 2026 budget aims to consolidate reforms and promote sustainable, inclusive growth nationwide.
- Earlier today, Nairametrics reported that the President asked the House of Representatives to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 budgets and extend the 2025 budget to 31 March 2026.
In June, the Senate approved a second extension of the implementation period for the 2024 capital component of the national budget, from June 30, 2025, to December 31, 2025.
