The Senate, acting through its Committee on Appropriations, has provisionally set March 17, 2026, as the date for the final review and approval of the ₦58.472 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill.
This decision followed a special session held today, during which lawmakers approved February 2 to 13, 2026, for the examination of budget estimates by committees.
In the same vein, the committee scheduled a public hearing on the budget proposal for Monday, February 9, 2026.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, also revealed that Thursday, March 5, 2026, has been designated for an interactive engagement between committee members and top economic officials of the Federal Government.
Those expected at the session include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, alongside the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu.
Adeola explained that the period from February 16 to 23, 2026, has been allocated for the submission of reports from various standing committee chairmen on their budget defence exercises, ahead of the presentation of the Appropriations Committee’s report to the Senate on March 17.
He noted that although the Senate leadership initially wanted the budget passed by March 12, 2026, he appealed for an extra week to ensure more comprehensive scrutiny of the estimates.
To support in-depth review, the lawmaker said printed copies of the 2026 budget have been produced and circulated to chairmen and members of the Senate’s standing committees.
In December, President Bola Tinubu presented the 2026 budget proposal of ₦58.18 trillion before a joint sitting of the National Assembly.
Tinubu described the proposal as a “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” outlining a capital expenditure of ₦26.08 trillion and setting the crude oil benchmark at US$64.85 per barrel.
The projected total revenue stands at ₦34.33 trillion, with ₦15.52 trillion allocated for debt servicing.
According to the president, the proposed deficit is ₦23.85 trillion, equivalent to 4.28 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, with assumptions based on crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day.
For the 2026 fiscal year, the exchange rate was pegged at ₦1,400 to the US Dollar.
Further details of the proposal showed that defence received the largest allocation of ₦5.41 trillion, followed by infrastructure at ₦3.56 trillion. Education was allotted ₦3.52 trillion, while health received ₦2.48 trillion.
“We will invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes—because security spending must deliver security results,” Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, stated.
“To secure our country, our priority will remain on increasing the fighting capability of our armed forces and other security agencies by boosting personnel and procuring cutting-edge platforms and other hardware.”
What you should know
Nigeria’s annual budget process involves detailed scrutiny by the National Assembly to ensure government spending aligns with national priorities.
The 2026 proposal reflects the Tinubu administration’s emphasis on security, infrastructure, and economic stability amid fiscal pressures. With defence taking the largest share and a sizable deficit projected, lawmakers are expected to closely examine assumptions around oil production, revenue generation, and debt servicing.
The extended timeline approved by the Senate suggests a desire for deeper evaluation before passage, as the budget will shape government policy implementation and economic direction throughout the 2026 fiscal year.
