President Tinubu is set to present 2026 Budget to National Assembly Friday.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is expected to present the 2026 proposed Federal Budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Friday, December 19, 2025, at 2:00 pm, subject to any last-minute changes.
The plan was contained in a circular dated December 17 and distributed to National Assembly staff by the Secretary of Human Resources and Staff Development, Adm. Essien Eyo Essien. The memo stated that only accredited personnel would be granted access to the National Assembly Complex during the budget presentation.
According to the directive, all accredited staff are required to report to their duty posts no later than 11:00 am, as security measures will restrict entry for anyone arriving after that time. Non-accredited individuals have been advised to stay away from the complex.
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The memo further instructed that, with the exception of the Clerk of the National Assembly, Deputy Clerk, Chief Secretary, Chief Human Resources Officer and their deputies, all staff must park their vehicles at the Annex or the new car park close to the National Assembly gate.
Essien urged strict compliance with the guidelines to ensure a smooth and orderly budget presentation by the president.
Tinubu’s appearance before lawmakers follows the Senate’s approval of the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), which cleared the path for the presentation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill estimated at ₦54.4 trillion.
The Senate approved the framework after considering a report by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, during plenary on Tuesday. The MTEF and FSP had earlier been endorsed by the Federal Executive Council at its meeting on December 3, 2025.
Under the approved framework, the projected exchange rate was set at ₦1,512 per dollar for 2026, ₦1,432.15 for 2027 and ₦1,383.18 for 2028, in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate stabilisation policy.
Despite a cautious outlook on global oil prices, the Senate retained crude oil production benchmarks of 1.84 million barrels per day for 2026, 1.88 million barrels per day for 2027 and 1.92 million barrels per day for 2028, citing confidence in ongoing reforms in the oil and gas sector.
Lawmakers also upheld real GDP growth projections of 4.68 per cent for 2026, 5.96 per cent for 2027 and 7.9 per cent for 2028, attributing the outlook to anticipated gains from tax reforms and broader economic restructuring.
For fiscal operations in 2026, the Senate approved retained revenue of ₦34.33 trillion, new borrowings of ₦17.88 trillion and debt servicing of ₦15.52 trillion, resulting in a projected fiscal deficit of ₦20.13 trillion.
The framework also provides ₦1.376 trillion for pensions, gratuities and retirees’ benefits; ₦20.131 trillion for capital expenditure excluding transfers; ₦3.152 trillion for statutory transfers; and ₦388.54 billion for the Sinking Fund. Total recurrent non-debt expenditure was pegged at ₦15.265 trillion, while special intervention funds for recurrent and capital spending were set at ₦200 billion and ₦14 billion, respectively.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is yet to approve the budget framework as of Wednesday.
