By Ayo Ayodele
The Nigerian Senate has fixed March 17, 2026, for the final consideration and passage of the ₦58.472 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill.
The date was agreed by the Senate Committee on Appropriations after a special session, where lawmakers approved February 2 to 13, 2026, for the consideration of budget estimates at the committee level.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, said a public hearing on the budget proposal has been scheduled for Monday, February 9, 2026.
He also disclosed that an interactive session between the committee and key economic managers of the Federal Government will hold on Thursday, March 5, 2026. Those expected at the session include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu.
According to Adeola, February 16 to 23, 2026, has been set aside for the submission of reports on budget defence by standing committee chairmen, ahead of the presentation of the Appropriations Committee’s report to the Senate on March 17.
He explained that although Senate leadership initially targeted March 12 for passage of the budget, an additional week was approved to allow for more detailed scrutiny.
To facilitate effective review, hard copies of the 2026 budget have been printed and distributed to members and chairmen of the Senate’s standing committees.
President Bola Tinubu had last month presented the ₦58.18 trillion 2026 budget proposal to a joint session of the National Assembly, describing it as a “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity.”
The proposal earmarks ₦26.08 trillion for capital expenditure, with a crude oil benchmark of US$64.85 per barrel and projected production of 1.84 million barrels per day.
Total expected revenue stands at ₦34.33 trillion, while ₦15.52 trillion is allocated for debt servicing. The budget deficit is projected at ₦23.85 trillion, representing 4.28 per cent of GDP, with an exchange rate benchmark of ₦1,400 to the US dollar.
Sectoral allocations show defence receiving the highest share at ₦5.41 trillion, followed by infrastructure with ₦3.56 trillion, education with ₦3.52 trillion, and health with ₦2.48 trillion.