Why FG Raised 2026 Budget to ₦58.18 Trillion — Presidency Source Reveals

• A presidency source has explained that the Federal Government raised the 2026 budget to ₦58.18 trillion mainly to accommodate large-scale recruitment into the military, police and other security agencies.

A source in the Presidency has revealed why the Federal Government increased the 2026 budget from the ₦54.46 trillion earlier proposed in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to ₦58.18 trillion.

According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the upward review was necessitated by the massive recruitment into the military, police and other security agencies recently announced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The source explained that budget submissions by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to the Budget Office of the Federation had already been concluded before the President’s announcement to increase personnel strength across security agencies.

As a result, the financial implications of the new recruitment exercise were not captured in the initial budget figure, making a revision inevitable.

“The budget had to be increased to accommodate the new intakes because the submissions had already been completed before the announcement,” the source said.

It was further revealed that the President presented the budget to the National Assembly earlier than expected to demonstrate commitment to its swift passage, even though the details of the adjustment were yet to be fully worked out.

“The budget process was already late, and they could not wait for all the details to be concluded before presentation,” the source added.

“They have to work on the details and clean it up before the bill returns to the National Assembly for MDAs’ budget defence and the rest of the process,” the source said.

The proposed ₦58.18 trillion aggregate expenditure represents a 6 per cent increase over the ₦49.7 trillion budget estimate for 2025.

The figure includes ₦4.98 trillion in projected spending by government-owned enterprises and ₦1.37 trillion allocated to grants and donor-funded projects.

Statutory transfers are estimated at ₦4.1 trillion, while debt service is pegged at ₦15.52 trillion, including ₦3.388 trillion for the sinking fund to retire maturing obligations to local contractors and creditors.

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Personnel costs, including pensions, stand at ₦10.75 trillion, seven per cent higher than the 2025 provision. This includes ₦1.02 trillion for government-owned enterprises. Overhead costs are projected at ₦2.22 trillion.

Non-oil revenues continue to rise and now account for about two-thirds of total government receipts, underscoring a gradual shift away from oil dependence.

With projected revenues of ₦34.33 trillion against total expenditure of ₦58.18 trillion, the budget deficit is estimated at ₦23.85 trillion, representing 4.28 per cent of GDP.

Recurrent (non-debt) expenditure is projected at ₦15.25 trillion, while capital expenditure is estimated at ₦26.08 trillion.

Security tops sectoral allocations with ₦5.41 trillion, followed by Infrastructure (₦3.56 trillion), Education (₦3.52 trillion) and Health (₦2.48 trillion).