2026 Budget: ‘Not The Size But Impact Matters’ – Senator Natasha Tells Tinubu, Calls For Accountability

The senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure that the proposed ₦58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill delivers tangible and measurable benefits to ordinary Nigerians, warning that headline figures alone cannot solve the country’s development challenges.

The lawmaker spoke on Friday while reacting to President Tinubu's budget presentation to a joint sitting of the National Assembly, describing the exercise as significant but cautioning against an overemphasis on fiscal size at the expense of real outcomes.

Akpoti-Uduaghan noted that while the proposed spending plan reflects the scale of Nigeria’s economic ambitions and structural problems, citizens are more concerned about how government spending translates into improvements in their daily lives.

She said, “Of all the lengthy speeches, one line by Mr President struck me deeply. It’s not the size of the budget but the quantum of impact felt by Nigerians.”

According to her, fiscal expansion without corresponding improvements in living standards risks deepening public frustration and widening the trust gap between citizens and government.

It was reported that the Kogi Senator stressed that Nigerians expect annual budgets to go beyond impressive projections and deliver concrete outcomes, including sustainable job creation, functional infrastructure, affordable healthcare, quality education and accessible social services.

She maintained that budgets must be assessed not by their nominal value but by their ability to improve welfare, productivity and social stability across communities.

Leaders Must Do Better

Akpoti-Uduaghan also emphasised that accountability in governance must be jointly upheld by both leaders and the governed, noting that public scrutiny remains critical to achieving meaningful outcomes.

“Leaders must do better, and citizens must demand accountability,” she stressed.

A member of the Senate Committee on Finance, the Kogi Central lawmaker has consistently advocated fiscal transparency, prudent management of public resources and people-centred budgeting, positions that resonate with growing public demand for governance outcomes that are visible and felt at the grassroots.

Her remarks echoed broader concerns within and outside the National Assembly that Nigeria’s annual budgets, though expanding in size, have yet to deliver commensurate improvements in welfare, economic productivity and social cohesion.

Despite rising expenditure profiles, many Nigerians continue to grapple with unemployment, inflationary pressures and declining purchasing power.

President Tinubu, on Friday, presented the 2026 Appropriation Bill titled “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity” to the National Assembly, projecting a cautiously improving economy.

He pledged stricter budget discipline and tougher revenue enforcement across government agencies, while vowing to adopt an uncompromising security posture, declaring that all armed non-state actors would be treated as terrorists under his administration’s security doctrine.

The President defended his administration’s controversial economic reforms, arguing that they were beginning to yield results.

Tinubu cited economic growth of 3.98 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, eight consecutive months of easing inflation, improved oil output, stronger non-oil revenues and renewed investor confidence as evidence of progress.

However, as debates on the proposal commence in the National Assembly, lawmakers such as Akpoti-Uduaghan insist that the ultimate test of the 2026 budget will not lie in macroeconomic indicators alone.

Rather, they argue that its success will be judged by its real-world impact on Nigerian households, communities and livelihoods across the country.