President Bola Tinubu’s 2026 budget proposal, according to the African Democratic Congress(ADC), is a debt trap masquerading as reform. The plan is based on excessive borrowing and inflated income predictions, which would further mortgage Nigeria’s future and exacerbate its fiscal crises.
Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of ADC, said in a statement released on Monday that the budget just reinforces the Tinubu administration’s history of economic irresponsibility and inflated projections.
Presenting the ₦58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriations Bill to the National Assembly on Friday, President Tinubu promised tougher fiscal constraints and expressed hope about a gradual economic recovery.
The President stated that the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity” is intended to build on recent macroeconomic advancements, restore confidence, and translate stability into widespread benefits for Nigerians during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives.
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The coalition party responded by saying that the 2026 budget merely restates the unsuccessful and mostly unexecuted 2024 and 2025 budgets, and that it is likely to meet the same end, with the majority of its implementation being postponed until another year.
“The document presented before the National Assembly on December 19 is a debt trap masquerading as a budget. The government claims it will spend ₦25.68tn on capital expenditure, yet with a projected deficit of ₦23.85tn, it is clear that almost every single bridge, road, or project is being funded by high-interest debt. Even with a transparent capital plan in place, this alone calls for concern.
“However, it is even more alarming when the government borrows mindlessly to fund opaque and often frivolous expenditures. It is one thing to squander current revenues on the excesses of the state, but it is an unpardonable sin to raise massive debts to fund reckless spending, effectively burying our children under a mountain of debt obligations before they even enter the workforce,” ADC stated.
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Additionally, it called the Tinubu-led APC government “chaotic,” accusing it of attempting to operate several budgets concurrently since it had failed to properly close previous budget cycles.
ADC stated, “Although it was presented as a Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity, what was presented was only a consolidation of fiscal recklessness and renewed wishful thinking that have become the hallmark of the Tinubu administration. If approved, the only thing this budget is capable of sharing is more debt and greater misery in the years ahead.
“The 2026 budget proposal only copies the templates of the failed, unimplemented, and perhaps unimplementable 2024 and 2025 budgets and will most likely end the same way, with the bulk of its implementation pushed to another year.
“We are witnessing a government attempting to build a house on quicksand, presenting a new fiscal framework at a time when the 2025 budget has only just been repealed and reenacted, in a display of unprecedented fiscal chaos and administrative incompetence.
“The truth is, Nigeria is caught in a fiscal mess. But rather than confront these problems, the Tinubu administration has continued to kick the can down the street, believing it can hide the yawning cracks under mountains of unsustainable debt that mortgage the future generation, while indulging in financial profligacy.”
The administration, according to ADC, misses a fundamental economic fact, pointing out that without fiscal restraint and reliable budgets, monetary changes or central bank actions cannot improve an economy.
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The ADC continued, “Governments may extend budget implementation periods or manage multiple supplementary budgets, but operating three or more national budgets simultaneously is President Tinubu’s original contribution to fiscal chaos. It has never happened before in this country.
“Overall, what is most evident is the administration’s penchant for turning fiscal planning into a hollow ritual and political ceremonies that mock the suffering of the Nigerian people. While revenues were pushed to ₦20tn in 2024—a figure driven more by the pains of currency devaluation than by genuine economic productivity—the government had the audacity to double its projections to ₦40tn for 2025 and even raise it to ₦58.57tn in 2026. This is not vision; it is fantasy.
“The 2026 budget, which remains dangerously scant on detail, embarks on yet another unsustainable expansion built on a foundation of quicksand. At a time when oil projections are weakening, and global prices are dipping as tensions in Europe show signs of cooling, the Federal Government has inexplicably set a benchmark of $64 per barrel. Instead of adopting a conservative posture to shield the nation from global volatility, it is chasing a ₦34tn revenue target that is totally disconnected from reality, especially now that the artificial ‘bounce’ provided by the devaluation of the naira has fully evaporated. One wonders if this government ever considers alternative scenarios other than those that suit its mindset.
“Perhaps most terrifying is the sheer scale of the deficit and what it reveals about this government’s lack of concern for the next generation. This administration behaves as if there will be no Nigeria after it. A budget that plans to generate ₦34tn in revenue while borrowing ₦24tn is an admission of fiscal insolvency. In no sane or functional fiscal system would a deficit-to-revenue ratio of 70 per cent be considered acceptable or even contemplated at all.”
ADC said the administration has reached a dead end and appears trapped by its own propaganda.
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