Tinubu seeks Senate’s approval for N9trn increase in 2026 budget proposal

President Bola Tinubu has sought the approval of the Senate for an upward review of the 2026 Appropriation Bill.

Tinubu’s request was conveyed in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and read at plenary on Tuesday.

Our correspondent reports that Tinubu, in the letter, proposed an increase of N9 trillion to raise the total budget from N58.4 trillion to N67.4 trillion.

The president said that the request was aimed at strengthening fiscal transparency to ensure effective implementation of priority national programmes.

Tinubu listed the three key objectives for the request to include regularisation and account for outstanding legacy commitments from previous appropriation cycles.

This, he said, was to prevent the projects from burdening the execution of 2026 budget.

Tinubu said that the proposal sought to consolidate and properly capture existing government’s indebtedness within the fiscal framework, while making provision for a limited number of strategic and priority projects.

“Thirdly, it aims to align the 2026 financing plan with revised expenditure in a manner that preserves macro-fiscal stability and reduces pressure on the domestic financial market,” he said.

Our correspondent reports that Akpabio, thereafter, referred the request to the Committee on Appropriation for further legislative input and to revert to plenary in the coming days.