2026 budget could worsen Nigeria’s fiscal challenges, ADC warns
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s proposed N58.18 trillion 2026 budget, describing it as a “copy and paste” of previous years’ spending plans.
In a statement on Monday, ADC’s interim national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed that the party’s economists reviewed the budget and concluded that, despite being presented as the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” it reflects fiscal recklessness and unrealistic projections.
“Like its predecessors, it risks ending as another unimplemented document, with real execution pushed into the future,” the statement read.
It also described the introduction of a new fiscal framework so soon after repealing and re-enacting the 2025 budget as “an unprecedented display of fiscal chaos and administrative incompetence.”
The ADC warned that, if approved, the budget could worsen Nigeria’s national debt and increase hardships for citizens. The party noted that the 2026 proposal mirrors the 2024 and 2025 budgets, which were poorly implemented, and criticised the government for relying on unsustainable borrowing to fund capital projects.
The statement highlighted rising debt service costs, projected to climb from N12.63 trillion in 2024 to N15.52 trillion in 2026, calling this trajectory unsustainable.
The ADC further urged the government to prioritise fiscal responsibility, transparency, and policies focused on the welfare of Nigerians.
