ADC Tinubu budget criticism intensifies as the party warns the N58.18tn 2026 proposal is a debt trap that could worsen Nigeria’s fiscal crisis
The African Democratic Congress has sharply criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proposed N58.18tn 2026 federal budget, describing it as a dangerous debt trap that could further mortgage Nigeria’s future and deepen the country’s fiscal crisis.
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The ADC Tinubu budget criticism was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who accused the administration of relying on excessive borrowing and unrealistic revenue projections.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday presented the N58.18tn 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly, expressing optimism about gradual economic recovery and promising tighter fiscal controls.
He described the proposal, tagged the Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity, as a framework to build on recent macroeconomic gains, restore investor confidence and translate economic stability into tangible benefits for Nigerians.
However, the ADC argued that the 2026 budget largely mirrors the 2024 and 2025 budgets, which it said were poorly implemented and left key expenditures deferred to later years.
According to the party, the proposed N25.68tn capital expenditure is undermined by a projected deficit of N23.85tn, raising concerns that major infrastructure projects would be financed almost entirely through high interest borrowing.
“The document presented on December 19 is a debt trap masquerading as a budget,” the statement said, warning that borrowing to fund what it described as opaque and often frivolous spending amounted to reckless fiscal behaviour.
The ADC accused the Tinubu administration of running multiple budgets simultaneously, citing what it called an unprecedented cycle of repealing and reenacting fiscal plans without resolving previous obligations.
Although labelled a budget of consolidation and shared prosperity, the party said the proposal merely consolidates fiscal recklessness and renewed wishful thinking, predicting it would result in higher debt burdens and prolonged hardship for citizens.
The statement further criticised what it described as overly ambitious revenue assumptions, noting that projected government revenues had jumped from about N20tn in 2024 to N40tn in 2025 and N58.57tn in 2026 without corresponding growth in productivity.
The party warned that oil price benchmarks and revenue targets in the proposal were disconnected from current global realities, describing a deficit to revenue ratio of about 70 per cent as an admission of fiscal insolvency.
Rising debt servicing costs also drew sharp criticism, with the ADC noting projections that servicing would increase from N12.63tn in 2024 to N15.52tn by 2026.
“There is no credible fiscal doctrine that justifies pairing such high deficits with astronomical debt servicing costs,” the party said, calling for an urgent and radical shift towards disciplined and transparent budgeting.
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Efforts to obtain a response from the ruling All Progressives Congress were unsuccessful, as APC National Publicity Secretary Felix Morka and Director of Publicity Bala Ibrahim did not respond to calls or messages.
