The Presidency has explained the reasons behind President Bola Tinubu’s decision to increase the proposed 2026 Federal Government budget to ₦58.18 trillion.
According to information from the Presidency, the budget size was reviewed upward to accommodate the financial burden created by the recent approval for massive recruitment into the military, police, and other security agencies.
The recruitment exercise, announced by President Tinubu, came after initial budget projections had already been prepared.
The original budget figure of ₦54.46 trillion was contained in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
However, the new security intake made it necessary to expand the spending ceiling to reflect additional personnel costs and related obligations.
The Director-General of the Budget Office, Mr. Tanimu Yakubu, made the new budget figure public after a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held on Friday. The announcement came shortly before President Tinubu presented the 2026 budget proposal to the National Assembly.
A source within the Presidency disclosed that Ministries, Departments, and Agencies had already concluded their budget submissions to the Budget Office before the President approved the security recruitment.
As a result, the original estimates did not capture the cost of the new intakes.
It was gathered that the upward review became unavoidable once the financial implications of the recruitment were fully considered. The Presidency maintained that the increase was purely to make room for these additional commitments.
The FEC meeting held before Mr. Yakubu’s announcement reportedly lasted less than two hours. It was also learnt that the Council did not engage in detailed budget deliberations during the meeting.
Following the session, Mr. Yakubu was directed to brief the press at the State House to formally communicate the revised figure.
The source further revealed that President Tinubu proceeded to present the budget to the National Assembly without delay to demonstrate seriousness about early passage, despite the budget process already running behind schedule.
“They have to work on the details and clean it up before the Bill returns to the NASS for the process to continue with MDAs’ budget defence and the rest,” the source said.
The proposed ₦58.18 trillion budget represents a six per cent increase over the 2025 budget estimate of ₦49.7 trillion. The figure includes ₦4.98 trillion projected spending by government-owned enterprises and ₦1.37 trillion earmarked for grants and donor-funded projects.
Statutory transfers are put at ₦4.1 trillion, while debt servicing stands at ₦15.52 trillion. This amount includes ₦3.388 trillion set aside for the sinking fund to settle maturing obligations to local contractors and creditors.
Personnel costs, including pensions, are estimated at ₦10.75 trillion. This figure, which covers ₦1.02 trillion for government-owned enterprises, is seven per cent higher than what was provided in the 2025 budget. Overhead costs are projected at ₦2.22 trillion.
The budget also reflects a continued rise in non-oil revenue, which now contributes nearly two-thirds of total government earnings. This development points to a gradual shift away from reliance on oil revenue.
With projected revenue of ₦34.33 trillion against total expenditure of ₦58.18 trillion, the budget deficit is estimated at ₦23.85 trillion. This represents 4.28 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
Recurrent non-debt expenditure is pegged at ₦15.25 trillion, while capital expenditure is estimated at ₦26.08 trillion.
Security received the highest sectoral allocation at ₦5.41 trillion. Infrastructure follows with ₦3.56 trillion, while education and health are allocated ₦3.52 trillion and ₦2.48 trillion respectively.