Senate targets March 17 for passage of N48.472trn 2026 budget

From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

The Senate has set a tentative date of Tuesday, March 17, 2026, for the final consideration and passage of the N48.472 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill.

This decision was reached on Friday at the National Assembly during a special session of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, as part of efforts to ensure timely consideration of the budget proposal.

To meet the proposed timeline, the committee fixed February 2 to February 13, 2026, for the consideration of budget estimates by the various standing committees of the Senate. As part of an inclusive budget process, the committee also scheduled a public hearing on the 2026 budget proposal for Monday, February 9, 2026.

Chairman of the committee, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, disclosed that a professor of Economics at the University of Lagos, Wasiu Adeoye, will deliver a PowerPoint presentation at the hearing.
He further announced that Thursday, March 5, 2026, has been set aside for an interactive session between members of the Appropriations Committee and key economic managers of the Federal Government.

Those expected at the session include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, among others.

According to the committee’s schedule, reports on budget defence by the various standing committees are to be submitted between February 16 and February 23, 2026. These reports will form the basis of the Appropriations Committee’s final report to be presented to the Senate on March 17.

Senator Adeola informed members that the Senate leadership had initially proposed March 12, 2026, for the passage of the budget, but he successfully secured an additional one week to allow for more detailed scrutiny.

He also disclosed that hard copies of the 2026 budget estimates have been printed and distributed to chairmen and members of the standing committees to facilitate thorough examination of the proposal.

The timetable was subsequently adopted by the committee following a motion moved by Senator Adamu Aliero and seconded by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu.