The National Assembly has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request for a $6.9 billion foreign loan facility, with a key provision mandating that 40 per cent of the funds be channelled towards capital projects in the 2025/2026 budgets.The approval followed the consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, which recommended the allocation to ensure the loan directly supports infrastructure and development projects.
The Senate moved swiftly to review and pass the request during plenary.
Earlier, President Tinubu had written to the National Assembly seeking adjustments to the 2026 Appropriation Bill, proposing an increase of ₦9 trillion to raise the total budget from ₦58.4 trillion to ₦67.4 trillion.
The letter was read on the Senate floor by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.According to the President, the proposed adjustment aims to strengthen fiscal transparency and ensure the effective implementation of priority national programmes.
He outlined three key objectives, including regularising and accounting for outstanding legal commitments carried over from previous appropriation cycles, thereby preventing them from burdening the execution of the 2026 budget.Tinubu also stated that the proposal would consolidate and properly capture existing government indebtedness within the fiscal framework while providing for a limited number of strategic and priority projects.He added that the plan is designed to align the 2026 financing strategy with macro-fiscal stability and reduce pressure on the domestic financial market.
In December, the President presented a ₦58.18 trillion budget proposal to the National Assembly, with ₦5.41 trillion allocated to defence and security, representing approximately 9.3 per cent of total expenditure.
The budget, themed “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” is anchored on what the President described as realism, prudence, and growth orientation.
Key projections include total revenue of ₦34.33 trillion and expenditure of ₦58.18 trillion, with a deficit of ₦23.85 trillion, representing 4.28 per cent of GDP.“These numbers are not just accounting lines. They are a statement of national priorities. We remain firmly committed to fiscal sustainability, debt transparency, and value-for-money spending,” the President said.
He added that the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework is based on a crude oil benchmark of $64.85 per barrel, production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of ₦1,400 to the US dollar.
