Nigeria’s budget too small for its population — Minister

Nigeria's Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, recently highlighted that Nigeria holds the distinction of having the smallest national budget among the world's 10 most populous countries. This situation persists despite the nation's significant population and development requirements. In response to this issue, the minister has called for a comprehensive national dialogue on revenue mobilisation, urging Nigerians to consider expanding the country's fiscal space to adequately fund development initiatives and meet its long-term economic aspirations.

Bagudu made these remarks at a Senate Press Corps Capacity-Building Workshop in Abuja, which was organized under the theme "Leveraging Legislative Oversight and Media Collaboration to Safeguard the National Budget from Unlawful Insertion." He urged journalists to pose pertinent questions and conduct thorough investigations into budget provisions, rather than drawing conclusions without adequate context.

This stance was further underscored by an analysis published by PUNCH Online in August which revealed that, while the budgets of Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory increased by 47.5% from N27.22tn in 2025 to N40.14tn in 2026, the portion dedicated to capital projects saw a decline from 73.24% to 64.34%.