The Federal government may continue borrowing to fund its widening budget deficit, the Senate has revealed, as lawmakers and fiscal experts warned that rising debt and weak revenue mobilisation could push the country to the brink.
Consequently, the Senate vowed to scrutinise service-wide vote spending and ensure that no budget tenor would be allowed to extend beyond December of any fiscal year.
Amid poor budget performance by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) due to alleged non-disbursement of funds, the Minister of Health, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, said the Federal Ministry of Health received only N36 million of the N218 billion appropriated for its 2025 capital expenditure.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Solomon Adeola, disclosed the need for borrowings to fund the budget during the public hearing on the 2026 Appropriation Bill at the National Assembly in Abuja, yesterday.
At the session, which drew top government officials, economists, the Minister of State for Finance, and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Adeola said: “The 2026 budget proposes total expenditure of N58.47 trillion against projected revenue of N33.19 trillion, leaving a yawning deficit of N25.27 trillion.”
Debt servicing alone, according to reports, is expected to consume N15.90 trillion.
“Nigeria cannot avoid borrowing because revenue inflows are unpredictable and development needs are enormous,” Adeola said. “The key question is not whether we borrow, but how responsibly we manage these deficits.”
The senator also warned that the National Assembly would no longer approve budget rollovers, citing weak implementation and abandoned projects as persistent challenges.
“Never again will budget extensions be granted. We must enforce strict timelines and ensure that policies translate into real outcomes,” he said.
Adeola stressed that borrowing would be carefully managed to avoid crowding out private-sector credit, with preference given to external loans, public-private partnerships, asset optimisation, privatisation, and Eurobond issuances. He warned that the 2026 budget would mark a decisive break from past spending practices, stressing that no agency would, henceforth, benefit from service-wide votes without proper accountability.
Stating that every expenditure item would be subjected to strict scrutiny to determine how public funds are utilised, he called on MDAs to fully cooperate with oversight institutions to promote transparency, efficiency, and fiscal discipline across government.
The lawmaker also declared that the National Assembly would no longer extend the implementation of federal budgets beyond December 31, insisting that delays undermine fiscal planning and accountability.
He equally highlighted the electricity sector as a major drain on public finances, underpinning the urgent need for comprehensive reforms, including the unbundling of the power sector.
Speaking during the ministry’s 2026 budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services, on Monday, Pate explained that the meagre release made it practically impossible for the ministry to execute its capital projects for the year.
According to him, although the entire personnel allocation for 2025 was released and fully utilised, the capital component suffered severe funding constraints, largely due to the bottom-up cash planning system operated by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
The minister said the situation was compounded by delays in the release of Nigeria’s counterpart contributions, which prevented the ministry from accessing certain counterpart and donor-supported funds tied to capital projects.
He told lawmakers that the implementation of the 2025 capital budget was stalled by circumstances beyond the ministry’s control.
Pate noted that Nigeria’s health sector planning is guided by key frameworks, including Vision 20:2020, the Medium-Term National Development Plan (NDP) 2021–2025, and the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) II, all of which are aligned with the provisions of the National Health Act and the 2016 National Health Policy.
He said the principle of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) remains central to the ministry’s mandate, particularly in strengthening the Primary Health Care system to deliver equitable and affordable services to Nigerians.
On the 2026 budget proposal, Pate said it was prepared in line with the 2026–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) and processed through the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) to ensure needs-based resource allocation.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Healthcare Services, Amos Magaji, directed the minister to furnish the Committee with detailed documentation on donor funds received by the Ministry and how such funds were utilised.