The Senate has passed a ₦68.323 trillion budget for Nigeria’s 2026 fiscal year.
The approval marked an increase from the initial ₦58.47 trillion proposed.
President Bola Tinubu had requested an upward revision of over ₦9.09 trillion to the budget.
The fresh request is to accommodate legacy commitments, particularly in the transportation and health sectors, as well as additional provisions, including funding for the judiciary.
At its plenary on Tuesday, the Senate approved the 2026 budget, after adopting a joint report of the National Assembly on the 2026 Appropriation Bill.
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A breakdown of the revised budget shows that ₦4.799 trillion is allocated for statutory transfers, ₦15.809 trillion for debt servicing, ₦15.427 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and ₦32.287 trillion for capital projects.
Further details indicate that ₦5.71 trillion from the additional provisions is earmarked for the regularisation of outstanding capital obligations carried over from the 2025 budget, alongside ₦2 trillion for previously omitted projects nationwide.
Further, sectoral allocations include ₦482.758 billion for the health sector, ₦478.600 billion for the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI), and ₦268 billion for the judiciary, with ₦36 billion specifically for the Supreme Court and ₦98.513 million for the Court of Appeal.
A ₦8.960 billion was approved for feasibility studies on key road projects, including the Calabar–Maiduguri and Maiduguri–Sokoto corridors.
In a related development, the Senate also approved an extension of the capital component of the 2025 budget, shifting its implementation deadline from March 31 to June 30, 2026, to allow for the completion of ongoing projects.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
