At least N3.50tn worth of new projects have been inserted into the proposed 2026 budget by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, despite a Federal Government directive ordering MDAs to roll over 70 per cent of their 2025 capital allocations and avoid introducing fresh projects, an analysis by The PUNCH has shown.
Figures from the 2026 Appropriation Bill indicate that new project entries amount to N844.49bn at the MDA level, rising to N3.50tn when Service Wide Votes are included, representing 15.09 per cent of the proposed N23.21tn capital budget.
The Service Wide Votes alone account for N2.66tn of the new projects, with major allocations covering contractors’ liabilities, financing programmes, security provisions and central government initiatives.
This development contradicts provisions of the 2026 Abridged Budget Call Circular issued by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, which stated that “MDAs are to upload 70 per cent of their 2025 FGN Budget to continue in FY2026” and warned against introducing new capital projects, stressing that all expenditure would be subjected to strict scrutiny.
However, The PUNCH observed that no fewer than 82 MDAs included over 400 new project lines, ranging from large infrastructure and health investments to smaller constituency projects.
Commenting on the pattern, the National President of the Nigerian Economic Society, Prof Adeola Adenikinju, said, “The 2026 budget should have been in the National Assembly for consultation so that we can keep to this January 1st thing,” while development economist Dr Aliyu Ilias described the situation as evidence of “fiscal discipline problems,” adding, “The National Assembly is also failing, failing in the sense that it is their own responsibility to make sure that those things do not really fly.”