President Bola Tinubu shot a formal letter Thursday to the House of Reps, snagging the noon slot on Friday Dec 19 for a high-stakes joint National Assembly address to unveil the whopping 2026 Appropriation Bill—packing naira 54.46 trillion in projected spending to supercharge his Renewed Hope agenda amid economic headwinds.
Speaker Abbas Tajudeen read the request on the floor, tying into the ongoing MTEF/FSP review: N34.33T retained revenue fuels the beast, but N17.88T new borrowings (home and abroad), N15.52T debt servicing, N1.38T pensions and a yawning N20.13T deficit demand razor-sharp choices—while N20.13T capex (minus N3.15T transfers and N388B sinking fund) eyes infra leaps, N15.27T recurrent non-debt covers ops, and tiny N200B/N14B special interventions add targeted punches.
This mega-drop caps Tinubu’s reform sprint, betting big on growth drivers like security, health and jobs from earlier headlines (PenCare pilots, army raids, tax clarifications)—but NASS hawks could grill debt loads and deficit risks, shaping fiscal fate for yuletide promises and beyond in Nigeria’s cash-strapped arena.
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