President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly. Titled the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience, and Shared Prosperity”, the ₦58.18 trillion proposal, is a leap from previous years. It focuses on stabilizing the economy and also launching a holistic redesign of the security framework of Nigeria.
On the economy, President Tinubu stated that inflation moderated to 14.45% in November 2025, down from over 24% in March, and external reserves have hit a seven-year high of $47 billion.
However, the budget process itself faced tension. The Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), usually passed months in advance, was only transmitted in December, leading to a marathon legislative session to ensure the budget could be presented before the new year.
Tinubu vowed to end the rollover culture where previous capital budgets overlap with new ones. A total of ₦15.52 trillion, over 26% of the budget, is allocated to debt servicing. By April 2026, Nigeria is expected to operate on a single, strict revenue and expenditure cycle.
2026 will be a year of stronger discipline… Nigeria can no longer afford leakages, inefficiencies, or underperformance in strategic agencies – President Bola Tinubu
On security, the President unveiled a National Counter-Terrorism Doctrine that criminalizes not just the fighters, but also financiers, informants, and political protectors. He declared that any individual or entity that enables these criminal groups, will be classified as terrorists.
The denominator is that if you wield lethal weapons and act outside the state’s authority, you are a terrorist. This includes bandits, militias, and forest-based armed collectives – President Bola Tinubu
Meanwhile, Tinubu allocated ₦5.41 trillion on modernization and personnel fighting capability, ₦3.56 trillion on the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund, ₦3.52 trillion for the Student Loan scheme (NELFUND), and ₦2.48 trillion on primary healthcare and grant-funded interventions.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has assured the Presidency of an expeditious review to ensure the budget cycle begins on January 1, 2026.
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