2026 Budget: 5 Ministries Taking the Largest Share

The Federal Ministry of Works will receive the largest funding for projects and operations under the 2026 Appropriation Bill.

The Pinnacle Daily review of the 2026 proposed budget has shown.

Others in the category are the Federal Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

President Bola Tinubu presented a proposed 2026 budget size of N58 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly on Friday, December 19, 2025.

Christened ‘Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity’, it aims to consolidate economic reforms and boost growth.

The bill was read for the first time on the same day, and as of Tuesday, December 23, it has passed the second reading in the Senate.

A review of the detailed proposal shows that the 2026 budget framework allocates funding to ministries through recurrent (non-debt) expenditure for routine operations and capital expenditure for projects, including those financed through multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans.

The Federal Ministry of Works received the highest allocation, with a total of ₦3.48 trillion earmarked for operations and projects. Of this amount, ₦48.11 billion is allocated to recurrent expenditure, while ₦3.07 trillion is set aside for capital projects.

An additional ₦367.90 billion is expected to be financed through project-tied loans.

The Federal Ministry of Defence followed with a total allocation of ₦3.15 trillion.

Its recurrent expenditure accounts for ₦2.69 trillion of the total, while ₦464.47 billion is allocated to capital projects.

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The Federal Ministry of Education ranked third, with a total allocation of ₦1.97 trillion.

Recurrent spending stands at ₦1.38 trillion, while capital expenditure is pegged at ₦560.94 billion.

It has project-tied loans for the ministry amounting to ₦30.64 billion.

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare received ₦1.93 trillion in total funding, comprising ₦1.01 trillion for recurrent expenditure and ₦898.33 billion for capital projects.

Its project-linked loans for the ministry stand at ₦25.90 billion.

Rounding out the top five is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, which received ₦1.45 trillion in allocations.

Capital expenditure dominates at ₦1.13 trillion, while recurrent spending is ₦147.52 billion, with project-tied loans accounting for ₦168.13 billion.

Healthcare funding remains subject to a statutory requirement mandating that spending on targeted health interventions be no less than six per cent of the total budget, excluding debt service and liabilities.

For the 2026 fiscal year, this minimum will be calculated after deducting ₦15.91 trillion allocated to debt servicing from the overall budget size.

Pinnacle Daily can report that despite large annual budgets, the Federal Ministry of Works faces persistent project delays, cost overruns and incomplete infrastructure due to funding gaps, weak project execution and reliance on loan-financed capital projects.

In the Ministry of Defence, high recurrent spending driven by ongoing security operations limits resources for equipment modernisation, while procurement and accountability challenges continue to affect operational efficiency.

In the social and productive sectors, the Ministries of Education and Health struggle with overstretched facilities, rising personnel costs and limited capital investment, constraining service delivery despite significant budgets.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security similarly faces weak implementation capacity, insecurity and climate risks, which dilute the impact of capital spending on food production and supply chains.

Many concerned Nigerians have been critical of government priorities and wastage over the years, expressing their displeasure and urging that every naira of taxpayers’ money should be seen as serving the Nigerian people.

Pinnacle Daily previously analysed these growing concerns among Nigerians over the 2026 budget