Senate To Meet On N58.472trn 2026 Budget March 17

The Senate yesterday through its Committee on Appropriations, tentatively fixed Tuesday, March 17, 2026 for the final consideration and passage of the N58.472 trillion 2026 budget.

To meet the deadline, the committee at a special session held yesterday fixed February 2 to 13, 2026 for consideration of  the budget estimates at committee level.

To ensure an all-inclusive process, the committee also fixed Monday, February 9, 2026 for a public hearing on the budget proposal.

According to the Chairman of the committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan (Ogun West), an erudite Professor of Economics at the University of Lagos, Wasiu Adeoye, will make a powerpoint presentation during the hearing.

As proposed by Senator Adeola and adopted by the committee, Thursday, March 5, 2026 has also been fixed for an interactive session between members of the committee and key economic managers of the federal government, including the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, among others.

Senator Adeola further disclosed that February 16 to 23, 2026 was fixed for the submission of reports on budget defence by the various committee chairmen, ahead of the presentation of the consolidated report by the committee to the Senate on March 17.

He informed members of the committee that the Senate leadership initially wanted the budget passed on March 12, 2026, before he convinced the leadership to allow an additional one week to ensure thorough scrutiny.

He added that, in order to facilitate meticulous consideration of the budget estimates, hard copies of the 2026 budget have been printed and made available to chairmen and members of the various standing committees.

The committee subsequently adopted the timetable following a motion moved by Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central) and seconded by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North).