December 19, (THEWILL) — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday presented a N58.18 trillion Appropriation Bill for the 2026 fiscal year to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The fiscal document, themed Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity, prioritises national security and infrastructure as the administration seeks to stabilize the economy and confront escalating insecurity.
Tinubu used the floor of the National Assembly to announce a total reset of the national security architecture.
He formally declared all armed non-state actors operating outside state authority as terrorists.
“Henceforth, any armed group or gun-wielding non-state actors operating outside state authority will be regarded as terrorists”, the President declared.
He specifically categorised bandits, militias, armed gangs, kidnappers, violent cult groups, forest-based armed collectives, and foreign-linked mercenaries under this designation.
The President further warned that the terrorist label would extend to financiers, ransom facilitators, arms suppliers, and any political or community leaders found to be aiding or protecting these groups.
The 2026 proposal is predicated on the 2026-2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) recently approved by the legislature.
The key benchmarks include a daily oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, an exchange rate of N1,400 to the US Dollar, an oil benchmark price of $64.85 per barrel, and a budget deficit of N23.85 trillion, which represents 4.28 percent of the GDP.
Defense and security received the lion’s share of the estimates, reflecting the administration’s unified counter-terrorism approach.
Security and Defence led sectoral allocations with N5.41 trillion, followed by Infrastructure at N3.56 trillion, Education at N3.52 trillion, and Health at N2.48 trillion.
Of the N58.18 trillion total expenditure, the Federal Government projects a revenue of N34.33 trillion.
A significant N15.52 trillion has been earmarked for debt servicing. Recurrent non-debt spending is estimated at N15.25 trillion, while Capital Expenditure, a key driver of the administration’s Renewed Hope agenda, stands at N26.08 trillion.
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