If 2025 was a year of adjustment and learning, 2026 must be a year of fulfilment, said Speaker Abbas as President Tinubu presented 2026 budget before joint session of Senate and House of Representatives
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, has said Nigeria’s economic growth must go beyond macroeconomic indicators and translate into job creation, higher incomes and expanded opportunities for citizens.
Abbas made the remarks on Friday in his closing address and vote of thanks after President Bola Tinubu presented the 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly.
According to the speaker, while economic reforms are beginning to yield results, the real test lies in how quickly and broadly their benefits are felt by Nigerians.
“The challenge before us now is not whether reform is working, but how decisively its benefits can be consolidated and broadened. If 2025 was a year of adjustment and learning, 2026 must be a year of fulfilment,” Abbas said.
He stressed that growth must increasingly translate into jobs, higher incomes and wider opportunities, adding that fiscal discipline must deliver fairness, efficiency and visible impact.
Abbas also called for credible targets, realistic assumptions and disciplined implementation of the 2026 budget, expressing optimism that the coming fiscal year would deliver tangible outcomes.
“Above all, the 2026 budget must be grounded in credible targets, realistic assumptions, and disciplined implementation. This is why there is strong optimism across this chamber that 2026 will be different — not only in intent, but in outcomes,” he stated.
The speaker said the National Assembly received the 2026 Appropriation bill with confidence that lessons from the 2025 fiscal year had been fully internalised and that the budget was designed to convert reforms into measurable progress for Nigerians.
Abbas identified President Tinubu’s insistence on operating a single budget and unified fiscal framework as one of the clearest signs of reform maturity, noting that it would restore order and transparency to public finance management.
“Your insistence that there should be no parallel budgets, no multiple spending windows, and no fragmented fiscal authorities speaks to discipline, clarity, and respect for due process,” he said.
He added that the approach reassured lawmakers that the 2026 budget is “not merely expansive, but orderly; not merely ambitious, but disciplined,” and designed for precise implementation.
The speaker also welcomed the administration’s declaration of a security emergency, describing it as a reflection of decisive leadership backed by concrete commitments such as expanded recruitment, enhanced training, improved welfare, strengthened territorial security and better intelligence coordination.
“Security is not only a constitutional responsibility; it is the essential foundation of development,” Abbas said, noting that security spending, when transparently implemented, is an investment in economic growth.
He assured that the National Assembly would ensure resources allocated to security translate into lasting improvements in safety nationwide.
Abbas further noted that the 2026 fiscal year would mark the implementation of new tax laws, describing the reforms as critical to state-building and sustainable revenue generation.
“These reforms broaden the tax base, enhance equity, simplify compliance, reduce leakages, and strengthen non-oil revenues,” he said, adding that the budget is anchored on sustainable revenue rather than deferred obligations.
Assuring President Tinubu of legislative support, Abbas said the National Assembly would consider the 2026 Appropriation bill with urgency, diligence and patriotism.
“We will scrutinise spending to ensure accountability and insist that every naira budgeted delivers value to the Nigerian people,” he said.
Addressing Nigerians, the speaker declared that the message of the 2026 budget was clear: “Stability has been restored. Confidence has been rebuilt. Fiscal order has been strengthened, and the foundations for shared prosperity are firmly in place.”
