President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to present the proposed ₦54 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint sitting of the National Assembly today.
Ahead of the presentation, both chambers of the legislature have endorsed the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and the Fiscal Strategy Paper, which provide the policy and macroeconomic basis for the budget proposal. The Senate approved the documents on Tuesday, while the House of Representatives followed on Thursday after prolonged deliberations that saw some lawmakers question key assumptions in the framework.
The 2026 appropriation will be President Tinubu’s third full budget since taking office in May 2023. He formally informed lawmakers of his plan to present the budget in a letter conveyed on Wednesday by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
According to the proposal, total expenditure for 2026 is put at ₦54.46 trillion, with plans to borrow ₦17.88 trillion from domestic and external sources. Expected revenue is projected at ₦34.33 trillion, while debt servicing is estimated at ₦15.52 trillion.
Capital spending is set at ₦20.131 trillion. Provisions for pensions, gratuities and retirees’ benefits stand at ₦1.376 trillion, while statutory transfers are estimated at ₦3.152 trillion. The sinking fund is projected at ₦388.54 billion. Recurrent expenditure, excluding debt servicing, is estimated at ₦15.265 trillion, alongside special intervention allocations of ₦200 billion for recurrent spending and ₦14 billion for capital projects.
The budget assumptions include an oil price benchmark of $60 per barrel, average daily crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels, and an exchange rate of ₦1,512 to the dollar. Inflation is projected at 16.5 per cent, while economic growth is expected to reach 4.68 per cent, supported mainly by anticipated gains from ongoing tax reforms.
The president is submitting the budget less than two weeks to the end of the year. Unlike the January–December budget cycle introduced under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the current government has yet to operate a fixed fiscal timetable, leading to overlaps between budgets within a single fiscal year.
Noblequestdaily will provide live updates of the budget presentation from the National Assembly and across its digital platforms.
