President Bola Tinubu on Friday placed security, health and human capital development at the centre of Nigeria’s 2026 fiscal plan, proposing total spending of 58.47 trillion naira (US$41.8 billion) in an appropriation bill submitted to parliament.
Presenting the budget titled “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity” to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, Tinubu proposed 5.41 trillion naira (US$3.86 billion) for defence and security, the single largest sectoral allocation, and 2.48 trillion naira (US$1.77 billion) for health.
Infrastructure spending is set at 3.56 trillion naira ($2.54 billion), while education is allocated 3.52 trillion naira (US$2.51 billion), the president said.
“These priorities are interlinked,” Tinubu told lawmakers. “Without security, investment will not thrive. Without educated and healthy citizens, productivity will not rise.”
The emphasis on defence reflects the administration’s focus on stabilising the country amid persistent security challenges. Planned spending includes the modernisation of the armed forces, intelligence-led policing, joint security operations, technology-backed border surveillance and community-based conflict prevention.
Health sector funding, though smaller than security, was positioned as a pillar of productivity and economic resilience, alongside education spending aimed at skills development and long-term human capital growth.
The 2026 budget is anchored on the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which assumes a crude oil benchmark of US$64.85 per barrel, oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of 1,400 naira to the dollar.
Tinubu also pledged to end Nigeria’s long-standing practice of running overlapping budgets within a single fiscal year, acknowledging that it had distorted planning and execution.
“There will no longer be the rolling over of budgets from March 2026,” he said, adding that all concurrent budgets would be concluded by that date.
The spending plan was earlier approved by the Federal Executive Council, while parliament has already endorsed the underlying medium-term fiscal framework.
The presentation was attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, state governors and other senior officials.
