Natasha Criticises Tinubu’s ₦58.18trn Budget
By Wellington Jopelo
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has cautioned that Nigeria’s growing budgets will mean little to citizens unless they bring visible improvements to everyday life, stressing that figures alone cannot fix the country’s long-standing challenges. The Kogi Central lawmaker said Nigerians are more interested in real change than headline numbers attached to annual spending plans.
Reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s presentation of the ₦58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill at a joint session of the National Assembly on Friday, Akpoti-Uduaghan described the moment as important, but warned against celebrating the size of the budget without focusing on its outcomes.
According to her, Nigeria’s problems cannot be solved simply by increasing government spending if such funds do not translate into meaningful results for ordinary people. She noted that citizens judge budgets not by projections, but by what they can feel in their homes and communities.
Quoting the President’s own words, the senator said one statement stood out to her during the presentation. “It’s not the size of the budget but the quantum of impact felt by Nigerians,” she recalled, adding that the statement should serve as a guiding principle throughout the implementation of the 2026 budget.
Akpoti-Uduaghan acknowledged that the proposed spending plan reflects the scale of Nigeria’s economic ambitions and the depth of its structural challenges. However, she stressed that Nigerians expect more than ambitious figures, calling for budgets that directly improve living standards.
She listed job creation, functional infrastructure, affordable healthcare, quality education and accessible social services as the key areas where citizens expect to see clear results. According to her, anything short of this would leave the budget as an impressive document with little relevance to daily life.
The senator also emphasised the need for accountability, noting that both leaders and citizens have a role to play in ensuring that public funds are properly used. She said sustained public scrutiny is essential if government spending is to deliver real value.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she has consistently pushed for transparency, responsible management of public resources and people-focused budgeting. She noted that these positions align with growing public frustration over budgets that expand yearly without matching improvements in welfare and productivity.
Her comments reflect wider concerns within and outside the National Assembly that Nigeria’s increasing budgets have yet to produce proportional gains in social stability and economic wellbeing.
President Tinubu, while presenting the 2026 Appropriation Bill, projected cautious economic improvement and pledged stricter fiscal discipline, stronger revenue enforcement and a tougher stance on security. He said the budget framework was designed to consolidate recent gains and turn economic stability into shared prosperity.
However, as legislative debates begin, Akpoti-Uduaghan insisted that the true measure of the 2026 budget will not be macroeconomic statistics, but whether Nigerian households experience real and lasting improvements in their quality of life.