Month: January 2026

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima are collectively allocated N11.03 billion for State House operations in the 2026 fiscal year, according to details contained in the 2026 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly. The figures, analysed by Nairametrics, provide insight into the cost structure of running Nigeria’s Presidency amid ongoing fiscal consolidation efforts.

Budget data extracted from the Appropriation Bill show that the State House Headquarters remains the single largest cost centre within the Presidency. In total, N43.191 billion has been earmarked for the headquarters, which houses the offices of the President, Vice-President, and other key units that support executive governance.

A closer look at the allocation reveals that capital expenditure dominates the State House budget. Out of the N43.191 billion total, capital spending accounts for N30.487 billion, reflecting ongoing investments in infrastructure, rehabilitation, and upgrades within the Presidential Villa and associated facilities. Personnel costs are estimated at N2.643 billion, while overhead expenses are projected at N10.060 billion.

Specifically, the President’s State House Operations vote is allocated N8.386 billion for 2026. This covers a wide range of administrative and operational expenses tied to the Office of the President, including travel, logistics, and day-to-day running costs. The Office of the Vice-President, on the other hand, received an allocation of N2.642 billion to support its own operations during the fiscal year.

Further disaggregation of the Presidency’s budget shows that the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President is allocated N1.360 billion. Notably, N1.00 billion of this amount is set aside for overhead costs alone, highlighting the administrative intensity of the role. Additional provisions under this office include N312.91 million for local training, N24.90 million for meals and refreshments, and N199.50 million for the purchase of motor vehicles.

The Office of the Chief Security Officer to the President is budgeted N371.240 million, while the State House Lagos Liaison Office received an allocation of N298.328 million, completing the core spending framework of the Presidency for 2026.

A breakdown of presidential expenditures indicates that recurrent and related expenses amount to N7.61 billion. Of this, international travel and associated costs account for N6.14 billion, reflecting Nigeria’s diplomatic and foreign engagement priorities. Local travel and transportation are allocated N873.89 million. Other line items include N79.67 million for drugs and medical supplies, N56.43 million for meals and refreshments, and N65.78 million for honorarium and sitting allowances. Publicity and advertisement activities linked to the President’s office are budgeted at N14.63 million.

The Vice-President’s allocation places notable emphasis on maintenance and renovations. Of the N2.64 billion budgeted, N171.03 million is earmarked for foodstuffs and catering materials, while N14.99 million is set aside for meals and refreshments. Office stationery and computer consumables are expected to cost N5.23 million, with N21.80 million allocated for honorarium and sitting allowances.

Significant capital provisions include N615.51 million for the rehabilitation and repair of residential buildings, N208.87 million for the renovation of the Vice-President’s quarters at the Presidential Villa, and another N208.87 million for the renovation of the Vice-President’s Guest House in Asokoro. An additional N25.88 million is provided for the procurement of printers, photocopiers, and media equipment.

President Tinubu presented the N58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly in December, describing it as the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity.” He said the budget aims to consolidate recent economic reforms and translate improving macroeconomic indicators into tangible gains for Nigerians.

The President also announced the end of the long-standing practice of running multiple overlapping budgets, noting that abandoned projects, inherited obligations, and repeated rollovers had weakened fiscal discipline. According to Tinubu, all outstanding capital liabilities from previous years are expected to be fully funded and closed by March 31, 2026, paving the way for a single budget cycle from April 2026 and tighter control over public spending.

The Federal Government has earmarked ₦367.9 billion in loan financing for the construction and dualisation of the Lafia Road and the 9th Mile (Enugu)–Otukpo–Makurdi corridor in the proposed ₦58.47 trillion 2026 budget, underscoring its continued reliance on external funding to advance capital-intensive road infrastructure. The allocation, captured in the 2026 Appropriation Bill (Details), ranks among the largest single items under the Federal Ministry of Works, reflecting the strategic importance of the corridor to interregional trade and mobility.

According to the budget documents, the Ministry of Works received a total allocation of ₦3.49 trillion for 2026, with ₦3.44 trillion dedicated to capital expenditure. This heavy tilt toward capital spending signals the government’s priority to accelerate ongoing road construction, rehabilitation, and dualisation projects nationwide, even as fiscal pressures persist.

What the Appropriation Bill shows

The Lafia Road and 9th Mile–Otukpo–Makurdi project appears in the bill under project code ERGP12234171 as a multilateral/bilateral tied loan, with a proposed allocation of ₦367,902,737,115. The scope covers the construction of Lafia Road and the dualisation of the 9th Mile (Enugu)–Otukpo–Makurdi route under Keffi Phase II, a vital artery linking the North-Central and South-East regions.

The size and structure of the allocation indicate that the project will be funded predominantly through external borrowing rather than direct treasury releases. This approach has become a standard model for large federal highways, where budgetary allocations alone are insufficient to meet rising construction costs driven by inflation, currency pressures, and security-related disruptions. The project is classified as ongoing, placing it among a cluster of long-term works being supervised by the Ministry of Works.

Other major road projects in the 2026 budget

Beyond the Lafia–Makurdi corridor, the 2026 budget contains sizeable provisions for several high-impact road projects. These include ₦52.5 billion for Phase II of the Kano–Katsina Road dualisation and ₦23.8 billion for Phase I of the same corridor. Multinational counterpart projects—such as the Lafia Bypass and components of the 9th Mile–Otukpo–Makurdi Road—also received ₦23.8 billion, reflecting the co-financing structure often required by development lenders.

Additional allocations include ₦13.3 billion for the Kano–Maiduguri Road (Kano–Wudil–Shuarin section), ₦12.6 billion for the Ikorodu–Itoikin Road in Lagos State, and ₦7.7 billion for the Abuja–Lokoja Road (Zuba–Abaji section). The Ikot Ekpene border–Aba–Owerri dualisation was allotted ₦7.7 billion, while the Numan–Jalingo Road rehabilitation received ₦7.0 billion.

Further details show ₦7.0 billion for the Damaturu–Maiduguri section of the Kano–Maiduguri Road and ₦7.01 billion for Section 3 of the Mubi–Maiduguri Road. The ministry also set aside ₦100 billion for a contingency fund and ₦600 billion for proposed new projects across the six geopolitical zones, though specific project details were not disclosed in the bill.

Why this matters

Nigeria’s federal road network—estimated at over 35,000 kilometres—has long suffered from underfunding and deferred maintenance. Officials have repeatedly acknowledged that annual budgets cannot, on their own, close the infrastructure gap. In this context, loan-backed financing has become central to sustaining progress on strategic corridors that support agriculture, industry, and trade.

Projects financed through multilateral and bilateral loans are typically paired with cost-recovery mechanisms such as tolling to ensure long-term sustainability. The Lafia–9th Mile–Makurdi corridor fits this model, given its role in connecting key economic zones and easing logistics across regions.

What you should know

The Federal Government, under Bola Tinubu, has increasingly adopted blended financing—combining budgetary funds, loans, and private capital—to fast-track infrastructure delivery. Notable examples include the Benin–Asaba Superhighway, advanced through private-sector funding, and the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, which secured $747 million in July 2025 and an additional $1.2 billion in December 2025.

Within this broader strategy, the ₦367.9 billion loan allocation for the Lafia Road and 9th Mile–Otukpo–Makurdi dualisation stands out as a cornerstone investment in 2026—one that highlights both the scale of Nigeria’s infrastructure ambitions and the growing role of external financing in turning those plans into reality.

The Federal Government has proposed a ₦6.04 billion personnel budget for Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited in the 2026 fiscal year, once again spotlighting the long-running paradox of Nigeria’s most ambitious industrial project consuming public funds without producing steel. Details from the 2026 Appropriation Bill show that the steel complex, conceived more than four decades ago as the backbone of Nigeria’s industrialisation drive, remains non-operational while drawing the bulk of its funding for salaries and staff-related expenses.

According to the budget proposal, Ajaokuta Steel was allocated a total of ₦6.69 billion for 2026. Of this amount, ₦6.04 billion, or about 90.4%, is dedicated to personnel costs alone. The structure of the allocation once again reinforces the company’s long-established role as a non-producing public enterprise sustained primarily through wage payments rather than industrial activity or output.

What the 2026 budget breakdown shows

A closer look at the proposed spending reveals that ₦4.79 billion of the personnel allocation is earmarked for salaries and wages, while ₦1.25 billion is set aside for allowances and statutory social contributions. These include ₦479.42 million for employer pension contributions, ₦239.71 million for National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) payments, and ₦59.82 million for employees’ compensation insurance. Regular allowances alone account for ₦468.9 million.

Beyond personnel costs, the imbalance between recurrent and capital expenditure remains stark. Total recurrent spending for Ajaokuta in 2026 is projected at ₦6.28 billion, compared with just ₦410.8 million in capital expenditure. This means that less than 7% of the company’s total allocation is directed toward assets, rehabilitation, or infrastructure that could potentially support a return to steel production.

Even within the capital budget, spending is thinly spread across relatively minor items. Fixed asset purchases—such as computers, printers, and security equipment—are allocated ₦56.4 million. Construction and provision of facilities take ₦129.2 million, while ₦225.2 million is assigned to rehabilitation and repairs, largely focused on electricity-related works and office buildings. For a complex originally designed to anchor Nigeria’s steel and manufacturing value chain, these figures underscore how little funding is being channelled toward genuine industrial revival.

A pattern of persistence, not reform

Year-on-year budget trends suggest continuity rather than meaningful restructuring. In 2024, personnel costs at Ajaokuta stood at ₦4.29 billion. This rose sharply to ₦6.21 billion in 2025—a 44.8% increase—despite the absence of production. The proposed ₦6.04 billion for 2026 represents only a modest 2.7% reduction from the previous year.

While the slight decline may appear to signal restraint, it does little to change the underlying structure of spending. Salaries continue to dominate the budget, while capital investment remains compressed, confirming that staff remuneration—not steel output—remains the core priority.

Zero revenue, full dependence on federal funding

The 2026 budget documents indicate that Ajaokuta Steel is projected to generate zero independent revenue and will receive no grants, leaving it fully dependent on federal subventions. Despite this, the company continues to appear in constituency-style capital projects, including solar street lighting in parts of Niger East and Kwara North, water facilities, road repairs, security lighting, and grants to market women and youths.

While such projects may have local social value, they are not linked to steel production or industrial capacity and do little to alter the company’s non-operational status.

Separately, the proposed 2026 budget includes revival-related provisions under the Federal Ministry of Steel Development. The ministry allocated ₦150.99 million for the revitalisation of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) as an ongoing capital project. An additional ₦1.06 billion was set aside for project preparation aimed at investment mobilisation, covering feasibility studies, environmental and social impact assessments, and financial modelling.

However, these figures are significantly lower than in 2025, when ₦2.41 billion was budgeted for project preparation and ₦250.98 million for revitalisation. The decline represents a 56% drop in project preparation spending year-on-year, even as the steel complex remains idle.

Why it matters

Conceived in 1979 as Nigeria’s flagship industrial project, the Ajaokuta Integrated Steel Complex was expected to reduce steel imports, drive industrialisation, and support economic diversification. More than 40 years later, budget allocations suggest it functions largely as a payroll institution, with successive administrations—including the current government under President Bola Tinubu—continuing to fund salaries while production remains at zero.

The company says it employs about 3,000 workers and claims that full commissioning could directly engage up to 10,000 staff, with upstream and downstream industries potentially supporting as many as 500,000 jobs nationwide. For now, however, the proposed 2026 budget paints a familiar picture: a steel plant sustained by recurrent spending, with revival still confined to studies and plans rather than actual output.