Abuja: The Senate on Friday scheduled March 17 for the final consideration and passage of the N58.472 trillion 2026 budget. The Senate Committee on Appropriations, during a special session held in Abuja, outlined plans for the budget’s consideration at the committee levels from February 2 to February 13.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the committee’s chairman, Sen. Solomon Adeola, announced February 9 as the date for a public hearing on the budget proposal. Adeola revealed that Wasiu Adeoye, a Professor of Economics from the University of Lagos, will deliver a power-point presentation at the hearing. The presentation will focus on ‘Strengthening the Microeconomic Stability, Accelerating Infrastructure Delivery, and Improving Security through Fiscal Discipline and Effective Implementation of the 2026 Budget’.
Budget hearings and engagements with Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) are set to begin on February 2 and continue until February 13. During this period, all sub-committee chairmen will invite their relevant MDAs for discussions and presentations.
The committee has also scheduled an interactive session with the Federal Government’s economic managers for March 5. Participants will include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu.
Adeola stated that February 16 to February 23 is the timeframe for committee chairmen to submit their reports on budget defense. These reports will then be presented to the Senate on March 17. He informed committee members that, although the Senate leadership initially wanted the budget passed by March 12, he successfully advocated for an additional week to ensure thorough review.
Adeola emphasized the importance of working within the set timeframe to achieve the budget’s passage. He also mentioned that hard copies of the 2026 budget have been printed for detailed scrutiny by the chairmen and members of the various standing committees.