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By Lawrence Agbo
A former lawmaker and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Yusuf, has criticised the ₦68.32 trillion 2026 appropriation bill signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, describing it as “unrealistic” and lacking proper planning.
Yusuf, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, argued that the budget was not anchored on a clear framework, warning that Nigeria’s borrowing level is nearly on par with its total spending.
According to the former Taraba Central senator, the budgeting process has remained fundamentally flawed over the years, with successive administrations failing to align expenditure with strategic planning.
“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.
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“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.
He maintained that if he were in the president’s position, he would not have assented to the bill, raising concerns over how the government intends to finance such an expansive budget.
Yusuf further alleged that a significant portion of the budget may be wasteful, estimating that about 40 per cent of the total allocation is “splurged.”
President Tinubu signed the ₦68.32 trillion appropriation bill into law on April 17, 2026. The budget includes ₦4.799 trillion for statutory transfers, ₦15.8 trillion for debt servicing, ₦15.4 trillion for recurrent expenditure, and ₦32.2 trillion allocated to capital expenditure through the Development Fund.
