The Senate, on Friday, tentatively fixed Tuesday, March 17, 2026, for consideration and passage of the proposed N58.472 trillion budget for the 2026 fiscal year.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations made this disclosure while holding a special session on the 2026 Appropriation Bill at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
Reeling out the timetable for the 2026 budget passage process, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Ogun West), said that the Panel had fixed Monday, February 9, 2026, for a public hearing on the budget proposal.
Senator Adeola also disclosed that an erudite Professor of Economics from the University of Lagos, Wasiu Adeoye, would make power points presentation on the money bill.
He revealed further that Thursday, March 5, 2026, has been fixed for an interactive session between members of the Committee and economic managers of the Federal Government, such as the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, among others.
The lawmaker also noted that 16th to 23rd February 2026, were fixed for submission of reports on budget defence by the various Committee Chairmen for presentation of reports by the Committee to the Senate on 17th March.
Moreover, he informed members of the Committee that the Senate wanted the budget passed on the 12th of March, 2026, before he convinced the leadership for an additional one-week.
Senator Adeola stressed that for meticulous scrutiny and consideration of the budget estimates, hard copies of the 2026 budget had been printed for Chairmen and members of the various standing committees.
Part of Adeola’s presentation reads: “Budget hearing and engagement with MDAs will start on monday the 2nd to Friday, the 13th of February 2026, where all sub-committee Chairmen will invite all relevant MDAs across the board for discussion and presentation of the 2026 budget to the Appropriations Committee.
“Submission and defence of the budget report by the sub-committee that will start on Monday, the 16th and end by 23rd February 2026, while the collation and harmonisation of the report by the Appropriations Committee starts on Tuesday, the 24th of February to the 17th of March.
“My dear colleagues, one main issue I want us to look at is on that last point that I’ve raised, because we should consider that you have to go on Easter break, and also, I think it should be toward the end of Ramadan.
“We must make sure we work within the time and ensure that the budget is passed. And even though the leadership is asking for the 12th of March for the budget to be passed, because I know how tedious this job can be once we start, I tried to convince them that we should look at the 17th and 19th of March so that we can pass the budget.
“Topic for the public hearing from budget to impact, strengthening the microeconomic stability, accelerating infrastructure delivery, and improving security through fiscal discipline and effective implementation of the 2026 budget.
“The facilitator will be Professor Wasiu Adewuyi, Professor of Economics, University of Lagos, Fiscal and monetary policy expert.”
After reading out the timetable for the various processes leading to the budget passage, Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central) moved a motion for its adoption, seconded by Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia North), and the Committee unanimously adopted the timetable.
