President Bola Tinubu on Friday, December 19, formally submitted Nigeria’s 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly, proposing a total budget of N58.18 trillion. Dubbed the ‘Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,’ the appropriation represents a 5.8 percent increase over the N54.99 trillion 2025 budget. Tinubu described the blueprint as the product of “painful but necessary” reforms over the past two and a half years, aimed at fostering macroeconomic stability, promoting job-rich growth, and ensuring inclusive prosperity for Nigerians.

Key figures from the 2026 budget show expected total revenue of N34.33 trillion against a total expenditure of N58.18 trillion, including N15.52 trillion for debt servicing. Recurrent non-debt spending is pegged at N15.25 trillion, while capital expenditure is set at N26.08 trillion. The resulting deficit of N23.85 trillion represents 4.28 percent of GDP, consistent with the administration’s fiscal strategy.

The budget is structured around four strategic pillars: consolidating macroeconomic stability, improving the business and investment climate, fostering job-rich growth and poverty reduction, and strengthening human capital while protecting vulnerable groups. Sectoral allocations reflect these priorities, with Defence and Security receiving N5.41 trillion (about 9.3 percent of total expenditure), Infrastructure N3.56 trillion, Education N3.52 trillion, and Health N2.48 trillion, the latter accounting for six percent of the total budget net of liabilities.

President Tinubu emphasized that security underpins national development, justifying the substantial allocation for modernizing the armed forces, enhancing intelligence-led policing, and securing national borders. The budget also supports education, noting that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has aided over 418,000 students in 229 tertiary institutions.

Economic indicators suggest stabilization, with GDP growth at 3.98 percent in Q3 2025 (up from 3.86 percent in Q3 2024), inflation down to 14.45 percent in November from 24.23 percent in March, and external reserves reaching a seven-year high of $47 billion. The budget targets a crude oil benchmark of US$64.85 per barrel, a production output of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N1,400 to the US dollar.

Tinubu urged strict discipline in budget execution, instructing all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to adhere to timelines, digitize revenue mobilization, and improve accountability. He also highlighted reforms in taxation and the oil and gas sector, alongside performance targets for government-owned enterprises.

A notable feature of the 2026 budget is the new national counter-terrorism doctrine, reclassifying bandits, militias, armed gangs, and other non-state actors as terrorists. The strategy emphasizes unified command, intelligence-sharing, and community-based peacebuilding as essential mechanisms to safeguard national survival.

The President concluded by appealing for unity between the executive and legislative arms, framing the 2026 budget not merely as financial allocations but as a strategic roadmap to realize the full potential of his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.