The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu’s 2026 budget proposal, describing it as a dangerous debt trap that could mortgage Nigeria’s future and worsen the nation’s fiscal challenges.
In its preliminary assessment of the budget presented to the National Assembly, the opposition party said the proposal exposes what it termed growing fiscal recklessness, administrative disorder and a troubling disregard for future generations.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC dismissed the Federal Government’s description of the proposal as a “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” arguing that it merely extends what the party described as failed fiscal practices under the Tinubu administration.
According to the party, the budget represents “a consolidation of fiscal recklessness and renewed wishful thinking,” warning that if approved, it would only result in higher debt levels and deeper economic hardship for Nigerians in the coming years.
The ADC further argued that the 2026 proposal mirrors the structure of the 2024 and 2025 budgets, which it said were largely unimplemented or unimplementable, and is therefore likely to suffer the same fate.
The party accused the administration of pursuing economic policies without a solid foundation, pointing to what it described as the practice of running multiple national budgets simultaneously as evidence of weak fiscal coordination.
Rather than addressing structural problems, the ADC alleged that the government has continued to postpone difficult decisions while relying heavily on unsustainable borrowing to mask underlying economic weaknesses.
On revenue assumptions, the party described the projections in the budget as unrealistic. It recalled that government revenues rose to about N20 trillion in 2024 largely due to currency devaluation, before being increased to N40 trillion in 2025 and now proposed at N58.57 trillion for 2026.
The ADC said such projections lack credibility, describing them as detached from economic realities rather than grounded in a clear development strategy.
The party also faulted the use of a $64-per-barrel oil benchmark, warning that weakening production levels and uncertain global oil prices make the assumption risky. It added that the projected N34 trillion revenue target fails to account for adverse scenarios and is based on conditions that may no longer exist.
More concerning, according to the ADC, is the scale of the proposed fiscal deficit. The party noted that the government plans to borrow about N24 trillion against projected revenues of N34 trillion, a move it described as excessive and irresponsible.
“It is deeply troubling to accumulate massive debts to finance reckless spending, effectively placing an unbearable financial burden on future generations,” the party said.
The ADC also highlighted rising debt servicing obligations, noting that such costs have increased from N12.63 trillion in 2024 to an estimated N15.52 trillion in the 2026 proposal.
The party concluded that no credible fiscal framework supports a strategy built on persistent high deficits combined with escalating debt servicing costs, warning that the current trajectory poses serious risks to Nigeria’s economic stability.
ADC Slams Tinubu’s 2026 Budget, Warns of Looming Debt Crisis
