The National Assembly would no longer approve extensions of budget implementation cycles, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, stated this on Monday.

He spoke during the public hearing on the 2026 Appropriation Bill at the National Assembly, which was attended by the Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Doris Nkiruka Uzoka-Anite; the Accountant General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Olujimi, economists, fiscal policy experts, and senior government officials.

“Never again will the National Assembly approve budget extensions. We must discipline our budgeting cycle, enforce strict adherence to appropriation timelines, and ensure better coordination between policy design and implementation,” Adeola stated.

The lawmaker, who defended borrowing to finance budget deficits in spite of public opposition, stressed that Nigeria’s development challenges and infrastructure deficit make borrowing inevitable.

He, however, warned that the government must adopt smarter, more sustainable deficit-financing strategies.

“Nigeria cannot help but keep borrowing because revenue inflows are unpredictable and development needs are enormous. What matters is how we borrow and how we fund our deficits,” he said.

Adeola, who noted that debt servicing remains a challenge, said Nigeria must continue to honour its obligations to protect its sovereign credit rating and global economic standing.

He said the government is exploring asset optimisation, privatisation, Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), joint venture asset leveraging, and Eurobond issuances instead of relying heavily on domestic borrowing, which could crowd out private sector credit.

Earlier, Dr. Olatilewa Adebanjo, economist and fiscal policy expert, warned that Nigeria’s rising budget deficit could become unsustainable unless urgent measures are taken to strengthen revenue mobilisation and enforce fiscal responsibility.

He called for a comprehensive review and stricter implementation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), describing it as a powerful but underutilised legal instrument.

He also warned of massive revenue losses in the mining and solid minerals sector, alleging that foreign interests, particularly Chinese companies, are extracting Nigeria’s resources with minimal financial benefit to the country.

Adebanjo picked holes in unrealistic revenue projections, stressing that the government must budget based on credible, achievable figures.

Also speaking, the Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC), Hon. Bashir Abubakar, said accountability and strong legislative oversight remain the most effective tools for addressing budget deficits and waste.

He said persistent cases of abandoned projects, inflated contract costs, arbitrary cost variations, and poor execution by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) deepen fiscal stress and erode public trust.

Reacting, Senator Adeola urged the executive to aggressively deploy Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), particularly in infrastructure development, to reduce pressure on public finances.

…Advocates electricity subsidy removal

He declared that the full unbundling of, and subsidy removal in, the electricity sector would unlock massive resources for funding critical projects.

The lawmaker noted that although states are now empowered to generate electricity, subsidy reforms in the power sector must be completed to free additional revenue for national development.

“Trillions of naira were spent annually on fuel subsidies, money that did not exist. We borrowed to fund it. The President took the bold step of removing subsidies, and that decision laid the foundation for the reforms we see today,” he said.

On the N58.47 trillion 2026 budget, Adeola said it is anchored on ongoing reforms, including subsidy removal, tax system overhaul, public finance restructuring, and electricity sector reforms, describing it as a “Budget of Consolidation.”

Speaking on Nigeria’s budgeting cycle, Adeola said the country must transition to a more strategic and disciplined framework, similar to global best practices, to manage limited resources amid enormous development needs.

He cited the example of the Ministry of Works, which may receive N500 billion when actual road infrastructure requirements exceed N2 trillion.

“This mismatch makes effective planning extremely difficult. We must prioritise critical sectors and avoid opening the floodgates to unsustainable demands,” he said.

He explained that aggregate expenditure for 2026 was projected at N58.47 trillion, with expected revenue of N33.19 trillion, resulting in a deficit of N25.27 trillion. He said debt service would account for N15.90 trillion, while capital expenditure of N23.21 trillion underscored government’s commitment to infrastructure and productivity-enhancing investments.

According to him, key assumptions include an inflation target of 16.5 per cent, exchange rate stabilisation around N1,400 to the dollar, oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day and a benchmark oil price of $64.85 per barrel.

He further said priority sectoral allocations included N5.41 trillion for defence and security, N3.56 trillion for infrastructure, N3.52 trillion for education and N2.48 trillion for health, stressing that effective implementation would unlock private investment, create jobs and improve quality of life.

In his presentation, the Accountant General of the Federation called for emphasis on impact rather than the size of projects in preparing the money bill.

“From inputs to outputs, we must stop measuring success by the number of roads, new visits, size of allocations, or speed of budget passage, and start measuring success by classrooms actually functioning, healthcare centers actually operational, power actually delivered, and jobs actually created,” Olujimi said.

The Minister of State for Finance who represented the Ministers of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, and other members of the economic team declared that the 2026 Budget would maximise scarce resources to achieve maximum results in the economy in particular and the lives of Nigerians in general.

“Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio, estimated at about 36 per cent, remains below international benchmarks, but the more pressing challenge is the cost of borrowing and the cost of servicing debt.”

The minister, while noting widespread public frustration over rising living costs, described the 2026 outlook as “cautious but positive,” with GDP growth projected at about 4.5 per cent, rising slightly thereafter, and inflation targeted for a significant decline by year-end.

Earlier, President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, represented by Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, warned that budgets must move beyond allocations to real impact.