Tinubu Presents ₦58.18 Trillion 2026 Budget, Vows Security Overhaul

By Angel Ike

President Bola Tinubu has unveiled a ₦58.18 trillion budget for 2026 before a joint session of the National Assembly, promising a reset of Nigeria’s security architecture to treat armed non-state actors and their enablers as terrorists.

The budget breaks down to ₦15.52 trillion for debt servicing, ₦15.25 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and ₦26.08 trillion for capital spending. It anticipates ₦34.33 trillion in revenue, leaving a ₦23.85 trillion deficit (4.28% of GDP). Projections rest on a crude oil benchmark of $64.85 per barrel, 1.84 million barrels per day production, and an exchange rate of ₦1,400 to the US dollar.

“These numbers reflect national priorities for fiscal sustainability, debt transparency, and value-for-money,” Tinubu declared.

Dubbed the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” it pursues four goals: macroeconomic stability, business investment, job-rich growth and poverty reduction, and human capital development.

Key allocations include Defence and Security (₦5.41 trillion), Infrastructure (₦3.56 trillion), Education (₦3.52 trillion), and Health (₦2.48 trillion). “Security drives investment; education and health lift productivity; infrastructure fuels jobs,” he emphasized.

Reviewing 2025 performance to Q3, Tinubu reported ₦18.6 trillion in revenue (61% of target) and ₦24.66 trillion in expenditure (60% of target). ₦2.23 trillion funded 2024 capital projects by June, but only ₦3.10 trillion (17.7%) went to 2025 capital amid transition demands.

He directed the Finance Minister, Budget Minister, Accountant-General, and Budget Office head to enforce strict 2026 implementation.

The budget prioritises Armed Forces modernization, intelligence-led policing, and border security with measurable results. It launches a new counterterrorism doctrine through unified command, intelligence, and community stability,.reclassifying armed groups like bandits, militias, gangs, robbers, cults, and mercenaries as terrorists if they operate outside state authority.

Enablers, including financiers, harbourers, arms suppliers, and political or religious protectors, face the same designation.

Tinubu stressed this shift would transform responses to terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and violent crimes threatening national survival.