The Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Saturday, commended President Bola Tinubu for making ample provision for security in the 2026 budget.
The party, in a statement on Saturday, signed by the spokesman of its Lagos chapter, Seye Oladejo, said the structure and priorities of the budget reflected deliberate planning and aimed at ensuring stability and long-term national renewal.
Oladejo, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the proposed N5.41 trillion allocation to the security sector in the 2026 fiscal framework shows the government is committed to addressing security challenges.
“The Lagos APC urges all Nigerians, stakeholders, and the National Assembly to view the 2026 Budget through the prism of national interest rather than partisan cynicism.
“This is not a budget of rhetoric, but of resolve. It is a statement of purpose from a President who appreciates the weight of history and the urgency of now.
“We commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his foresight, courage, and clarity of purpose. Nigeria is steadily moving from emergency responses to structured, forward-looking solutions.
“The 2026 Budget is yet another affirmation that this administration is not governing by chance, but by design,” Oladejo said.
He said the lion’s share earmarked for security proves that the present administration is clear-eyed about Nigeria’s present realities and firmly focused on securing its future.
According to him, security, as the foremost responsibility of government, has been given deserved attention beyond reactionary measures.
“Security is treated as a strategic investment in national stability, economic confidence and social cohesion,” Oladejo said.
He explained that the primary intent of the 2026 Budget is to consolidate security gains and protect lives and property nationwide.
Oladejo added that the budget also aims to create a stable environment for economic recovery and sustainable growth.
“The President clearly understands that no meaningful development can thrive without peace and safety,” he said.
He said the N5.41 trillion sectoral allocation targets capacity enhancement for the Armed Forces and other security agencies.
According to him, this will improve intelligence gathering, inter-agency collaboration and operational effectiveness.
Oladejo said modernisation of equipment and logistics is also prioritised in the security allocation.
He added that the welfare and motivation of security personnel are central to the President’s security strategy.
“This leadership understands that security spending is not consumption but protection of national assets, human and material,” he said.
He noted that restoring investor confidence remains a key objective, as investors prefer stable and secure environments.
According to him, the budget also safeguards ongoing economic reforms from being undermined by insecurity.
Oladejo urged ordinary citizens and the National Assembly to assess the budget through the lens of national interest.
NAN recalls that Tinubu, on Friday, presented the 2026 federal budget of N58.18 trillion, with N5.41 trillion allocated to defence and security, which represents approximately 9.3 per cent of the total expenditure.
Presenting the budget themed ‘Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity’ to the National Assembly, Tinubu said that without security, investment cannot thrive.
Leaders should match numbers with impact – Akpoti-Uduaghan
But while the President’s address to a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives outlined ambitious plans for economic stabilisation, infrastructure expansion and social welfare, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing the Kogi Central Constituency, cautioned that budgets, no matter how historic, are meaningless if they fail to improve daily living conditions.
The presentation of Nigeria’s record N58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill by President Tinubu thus reignited a familiar but pressing debate in the National Assembly: can big numbers translate into real relief for ordinary Nigerians?
Reacting to the President’s speech in a statement by her media office in Abuja, the Senator said one line stood out for her amid the lengthy presentation: “It’s not the size of the budget but the quantum of impact felt by Nigerians.”
According to Akpoti-Uduaghan, the proposed N58.18 trillion budget reflects the scale of Nigeria’s challenges and aspirations, but citizens are more concerned about outcomes than projections.
“Nigerians are not interested in impressive figures on paper,” she said. “They want to see better living standards, jobs for young people, functional infrastructure, affordable healthcare, quality education and social services that actually work.”
She stressed that the country’s development problems cannot be solved by allocations alone, warning that weak implementation, poor oversight and lack of transparency have historically undermined even the most ambitious fiscal plans.
The senator also placed responsibility beyond government, insisting that accountability is a shared duty.
“Leaders must do better, and citizens must demand accountability,” she declared, urging Nigerians to pay closer attention to how public funds are spent and to hold elected officials to account.
According to the statement: “Observers at the National Assembly noted that the budget presentation has opened a critical phase of legislative scrutiny, with lawmakers expected to interrogate revenue projections, debt sustainability, sectoral priorities and implementation capacity in the weeks ahead.
“Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, has consistently pushed for fiscal discipline, transparency and people-centred budgeting. Her intervention echoed growing public sentiment that governance should be measured by visible impact at the grassroots rather than headline figures.
“As debates on the 2026 Appropriation Bill begin in earnest, Nigerians will be watching closely to see whether the record-breaking budget will deliver tangible and equitable benefits—ultimately testing the President’s assertion that the true value of a budget lies not in its size, but in its effect on the lives of the people.”
Budget is people-centred, says Goronyo
President Tinubu’s emphasis on security and road infrastructure in the 2026 Appropriation Bill has also been described as people-centred and responsive to Nigeria’s most pressing development challenges.
The Minister of State for Works, Rt. Hon. Bello Goronyo said the President deserves broad commendation, noting that the strong allocation to security in the 2026 budget reflects a clear resolve to safeguard lives and property.
Goronyo, in a statement on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media, Abdullahi A. Mohammed, stressed that sustainable development cannot be achieved in an environment undermined by insecurity.
The Minister said that by prioritising security in the budget, the President has taken a decisive step that will not only protect citizens but also unlock economic opportunities by boosting investor confidence, expanding business activities and reinforcing national stability.
He also praised the substantial allocation to road infrastructure, saying sustained investment in the construction, rehabilitation and completion of federal highways would ease transportation difficulties and address long-standing mobility challenges.
Goronyo said improved road networks would significantly reduce travel time, lower vehicle operating costs, and improve access to markets, schools, healthcare facilities and other essential services for millions of Nigerians.
The Minister said the combined focus on security and infrastructure, alongside ongoing economic reforms, fiscal discipline and investments in education and health, would help ease the hardship currently faced by citizens.
He said these priorities were critical to job creation, economic growth and improving the overall quality of life across the country.
Goronyo assured Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Works would fully implement all road projects approved in the 2026 budget, in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He also called on stakeholders, including State governments, contractors and host communities, to support the timely execution of road projects nationwide, stressing that collaboration was essential to delivering the expected benefits of the budget to Nigerians.
PDP faults proposal
The PDP said the budget proposal falls short in tackling widespread poverty, rising living costs, and insecurity.
The Peoples Democratic Party has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s 2026 budget proposal, describing it as a “Budget of Consolidated Renewed Sufferings.”
While President Tinubu projected a cautiously improving economy and promised stricter budgetary discipline, the PDP, in a statement on Friday, by its spokesman, Ini Ememobong, said the budget falls short in tackling widespread poverty, rising living costs, and insecurity.
“We see it rather as a budget of consolidated renewed sufferings, because what Nigerians have witnessed since the birth of this administration is nothing but unmitigated hardship on the people, while the governing class relishes in affluence.
“President Tinubu cited a 3.98% GDP growth rate as evidence of economic stabilisation under his administration,” he stated.
“According to the 2025 World Bank Poverty & Equity Brief, more than 30.9% of Nigerians live below the international extreme poverty line. This shows that there is growth without prosperity for our citizens, meaning that despite GDP growth, poverty remains endemic. This clearly indicates that whatever economic gains exist are not reaching the majority of Nigerians.
The PDP said, “The President stated that the economy under his watch grew by 3.98% without stating the sectors that stimulated the growth or identifying those who benefited from it.
“This figure reflects the economic decline the nation has suffered under the leadership of the APC-led Federal Government when compared to the growth rate of 6.87% recorded in 2013 (same period under the last PDP administration), which was driven largely by non-oil sectors such as agriculture and trade.”
Ememobong called for transparent and effective use of security funds to provide modern equipment, sufficient ammunition, better intelligence, and improved welfare for personnel facing well-armed criminal groups.
