President Bola Tinubu has earmarked N5.41 trillion for security, the single greatest allocation in the proposed 2026 budget.
It was the third straight year that defense and security spending took precedence since the administration began submitting national budgets in November 2023.
Tinubu stated this on Friday while presenting the N58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly, saying national security remained the underpinning of economic growth, investment, and social stability.
Defense and security will receive N5.41 trillion, ahead of infrastructure, education, and health, reaffirming a pattern established in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, in which security consistently received the highest sectoral funding despite persistent threats from terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping.
“Security remains the foundation of development,” Tinubu told lawmakers, stressing that without peace and stability, other sectors of the economy would struggle to thrive.
Hours earlier, the Federal Executive Council approved the 2026 budget framework during an emergency meeting presided over for the first time by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The council estimated overall expenditure at N58.47 trillion, with debt service, payroll, and security commitments all putting a strain on the budget.
Breaking down the 2026 proposal, Tinubu stated that the security vote will be used to modernize the armed forces, expand intelligence-driven police, improve border monitoring, and support cooperative operations amongst security agencies.
“We will invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes because security spending must deliver security results,” he said.
He also promised a massive overhaul of Nigeria’s national security architecture, which will include the implementation of a new national counter-terrorism doctrine based on unified command, intelligence coordination, and community stability.
Tinubu declared that under the proposed framework, all armed groups operating outside of state authority—including bandits, militias, kidnappers, armed gangs, and violent cult groups—would be classified as terrorists, as would their financiers, informants, and political or community enablers.
Tinubu mentioned that the tougher classification was necessary to close legal and operational gaps that had allowed violent groups to thrive for years.
The 2026 budget also proposes N3.56tn for infrastructure, N3.52tn for education, and N2.48tn for health.
Despite the pressure on public finances, Tinubu insisted that prioritizing security was necessary.
“Without security, investment will not thrive. Without educated and healthy citizens, productivity will not rise. Without infrastructure, jobs and enterprise will not scale,” he said, linking the heavy security allocation to broader development goals.
The president asked MPs to adopt the budget, claiming that it was intended to consolidate recent economic successes while restoring public trust in the state’s ability to safeguard people and property.
