A former federal lawmaker and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Abubakar Yusuf, has expressed concern that Nigeria’s borrowing level is nearly on par with its national budget.
Yusuf made the remarks during an appearance on Sunday Politics aired by Channels Television, where he questioned the fiscal direction of the current administration.
He criticised the ₦68.32 trillion 2026 appropriation bill recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, arguing that it lacks realism and is not anchored on a clear development plan. According to him, the budget does not adequately reflect strategic planning or sustainable funding sources.
The former senator stated that, in his view, he would not have endorsed the budget if he were in the president’s position, raising doubts about how the government intends to finance such a large expenditure framework.
“First of all, I am a member of the APC, so it’s our government, since the time of President Muhammadu Buhari up till now. However, one cannot but say that we are not getting things right in terms of the budgeting, because before you budget, you must plan.
“It is not about ₦68 trillion. What is the ₦68 trillion for? Is it based on needs or is it based on wants? For me, it’s not a realistic budget, because I have always been talking since I was in the Senate, eighth Assembly, 9th Assembly, we continue what we call splurging the budget.
“I may be wrong, but about 40 per cent of this budget that we have is splurged,” he said.
President Tinubu signed the appropriation bill into law on Friday, April 17, 2026, approving a total expenditure of ₦68.32 trillion for the fiscal year.
A breakdown of the budget shows that ₦4.799 trillion is allocated for statutory transfers, while ₦15.8 trillion is set aside for debt servicing. Additionally, ₦15.4 trillion is designated for recurrent expenditure, with ₦32.2 trillion earmarked for capital projects under the development fund.
