- Why Tinubu Increased 2026 Budget To ₦58.18 Trillion, Presidency Explains
- Presidency cites late budget process for hurried National Assembly presentation
- Security sector received highest allocation in ₦58.18 trillion proposal
The Presidency has explained why the Federal Government raised the proposed 2026 budget from ₦54.46 trillion to ₦58.18 trillion, citing urgent security sector demands and timing constraints in the budget process.
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that a presidency source disclosed that the increase was largely driven by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent approval of large scale recruitment into the military, police and other security agencies.
According to the source, budget submissions from Ministries, Departments and Agencies had already been completed and submitted to the Budget Office of the Federation before the announcement of the new security personnel intake.
This development, the source said, created fresh financial obligations that were not captured in the original Medium Term Expenditure Framework, making an upward review of the budget unavoidable.
The source explained that the President proceeded to present the revised budget to the National Assembly without delay in order to demonstrate commitment to early passage, even though the budget process had already fallen behind schedule.
“They have to work on the details and clean it up before the Bill returns to the NASS for the process to continue with MDAs’ budget defence and the rest,” the source said.
Under the proposal, total aggregate expenditure for 2026 stands at ₦58.18 trillion, representing a six percent increase over the ₦49.7 trillion budget estimate for 2025.
The figure includes projected spending of ₦4.98 trillion by government owned enterprises and ₦1.37 trillion allocated to grants and donor funded projects.
Statutory transfers are pegged at ₦4.1 trillion, while debt servicing will consume ₦15.52 trillion, including ₦3.388 trillion set aside for the sinking fund to retire maturing obligations owed to local contractors and creditors.
Personnel costs, including pensions, are estimated at ₦10.75 trillion. This includes ₦1.02 trillion for government owned enterprises and reflects a seven percent increase over the 2025 provision. Overhead costs are projected at ₦2.22 trillion.
The source also noted that non oil revenue continues to rise, now contributing about two thirds of total government receipts, signalling a sustained shift away from oil dependence.
With projected revenue of ₦34.33 trillion against total expenditure of ₦58.18 trillion, the budget deficit is estimated at ₦23.85 trillion, representing 4.28 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
Recurrent non debt expenditure is put at ₦15.25 trillion, while capital expenditure is projected at ₦26.08 trillion.
Sectoral allocations show that security received the highest allocation of ₦5.41 trillion, followed by infrastructure with ₦3.56 trillion, education with ₦3.52 trillion and health with ₦2.48 trillion.
President Tinubu, during the presentation of the 2026 budget, had warned that the government would intensify its response to security threats, declaring, “We Will Show No Mercy.”
