2026 Budget: SDP, LP warn against rising debt

PDP and LP logos

Opposition parties in the country have criticised President Bola Tinubu’s proposed N58.18tn 2026 Appropriation Bill, faulting its heavy reliance on borrowing, and ballooning debt-service costs.

The opposition parties expressed worry over what they described as a widening gap between rising budget figures and worsening living conditions for ordinary Nigerians.

The criticism followed Tinubu’s presentation of the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity” to a joint sitting of the National Assembly on Friday, where he projected a cautiously improving economy and pledged tighter fiscal discipline, tougher revenue enforcement and an uncompromising security posture.

However, opposition figures across party lines argued that beneath the headline figures was a troubling pattern of mounting loans, weak transparency, and poor outcomes that had failed to translate into tangible relief for citizen

They noted that Nigerians were still grappling with high inflation, insecurity, and economic hardship.

In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, the National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic Party, Rufus Ayenugba, said his party’s “major worry is the money being earmarked to service debt and the humongous loan this current administration keeps borrowing.”

He said, “They are not even worried that we still have a backlog of debts from previous governments. Nigerians are getting agitated because these issues call for concern. What are they doing with these loans? Punch