Senate Schedules March 17 for Passage of N58.472trn 2026 Budget …sets February 2–13 for committee-level consideration

The Senate, through its Committee on Appropriations, on Friday tentatively fixed Tuesday, March 17, 2026, for the final consideration and passage of the N48.472 trillion 2026 budget.
To meet the proposed timeline, the committee, at a special session held on Friday, scheduled February 2 to 13 for the consideration of budget estimates at the committee level.

As part of efforts to ensure an inclusive process, the committee also fixed Monday, February 9, 2026, for a public hearing on the budget proposal. According to the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Ogun West), an erudite Professor of Economics at the University of Lagos, Wasiu Adeoye, will deliver a PowerPoint presentation at the session.
Further, following a proposal by Senator Adeola which was adopted by the committee, Thursday, March 5, 2026, was set aside for an interactive session between members of the committee and key economic managers of the Federal Government. Those expected include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, among others.
The chairman also disclosed that February 16 to 23, 2026, had been earmarked for the submission of reports on budget defence by the various committee chairmen, ahead of the presentation of the committee’s report to the Senate on March 17.
He informed members that the Senate leadership had initially proposed March 12, 2026, for the passage of the budget, but that he successfully appealed for an additional one-week extension.
Senator Adeola added that, to allow for detailed scrutiny and thorough consideration of the budget estimates, hard copies of the 2026 budget had been printed and distributed to chairmen and members of the various standing committees.
The committee subsequently adopted the timetable following a motion moved by Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central) and seconded by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North).