Both chambers of the National Assembly Tuesday, passed for third reading, N68.3trillion as aggregate budget profile for 2026 fiscal year which is N9trillion above N58.472trillion proposed by President Bola Tinubu in December, 2025.
The N9 trillion increase in the approved budget arose from adjustment made to the earlier proposal by President Tinubu and concurred with by the federal lawmakers.
Passage of the N68.3trillion 2026 budget by both chambers , followed harmonized reports submitted to that effect by their committees on Appropriations.
As stated in the report, presented in the Senate by its Chairman, Appropriations Committee, Senator Olamilekan Adeola ( Ogun West), the adjustments effected in the Budget are “the outstanding unfunded capital obligations amounting to ₦5.71 trillion arising from the 2025 Appropriation (Repeal and Enactment) Act, as well as ₦2 trillion capital for priority projects across multiple sectors and locations nationwide, which were omitted in the rollover to the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
“Federal Government equity contribution of ₦478.60 billion under the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) framework for the Presidential Legacy Light Rail Projects in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, and Ogun States, including feasibility studies for the Enugu and Maiduguri Urban Light Rail Projects, as well as the narrow-gauge railway network;
“The provision of ₦8.96 billion for detailed feasibility studies for the Calabar–Maiduguri Corridor (traversing the North Central Zone) and the Maiduguri–Sokoto Superhighway under the Tinubu National Beltway Initiative.
“An additional US$344.83 million, equivalent to approximately ₦482.76 billion, for priority health sector interventions tied to existing bilateral understandings and implementation commitments and a further provision of ₦98.50 billion for the Court of Appeal and ₦36.7 billion for the Supreme Court in support of the institutional architecture for the 2027 General Election cycle; and ₦268.54 billion for the reinstatement of the Judiciary’s budget ceiling, as well as additional provisions to accommodate the prospective appointment of more Justices of the Court of Appeal and Judges”
The N68.3trillion budget as explained by Senator Adeola has N4.79trillion as Statutory Transfer, N15.4trillion as recurrent expenditure, N32.2trillion as capital expenditure and N15.8trillion for debt servicing.
According to him, aside oil price bench mark of $65 moved to $75 , other parameters the budgetary proposals were predicated upon ,are retained as proposed and as contained in the 2026 – 2028 Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
The committees however stated in the report that the executive should implement the budgetary proposal very religiously through prompt releases and adequate funding.
The report states: “That bureaucratic bottleneck that led to the challenges of late releases of funds in 2025 should be addressed wholistically, to achieve the Theme of 2026 Appropriations Bill From Budget to Impact.
“Deliberate efforts must be made in 2026 by the Senate in collaboration with the Executive to implement 2026 Appropriation wholistically.
“The 2026 budget implementation should be monitored by the various committees, with a purpose to manage and guide capital projects implementation with discipline, and pursue infrastructural growth that is broadbased with sustainable legislation”.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, in his remarks after the passage of the budget , said the budget if well implemented would further take Nigeria out of the doldrum .
