The process leading to the passage of the 2026 Appropriation Bill is continuing, even as the National Assembly has postponed the resumption of plenary for the second time in two months.
The legislature had initially scheduled plenary to resume on February 24, 2026, but that date was later shifted to March 5. The March 5 resumption has now been postponed again, with plenary expected to reconvene on March 10.
The repeated adjustments to the legislative calendar have raised questions about the pace of proceedings. However, the National Assembly has indicated that the extended recess is intended to allow committees conclude the ongoing budget defence process.
President Bola Tinubu presented the proposed ₦58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 19, 2025. Shortly after the presentation, both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the budget proposal for second reading on December 23, 2025, thereby fast-tracking the early stages of legislative consideration.
Following the Christmas recess, the legislature resumed work on the budget. The Appropriation Bill subsequently scaled First and Second Readings and moved to the committee stage, where detailed scrutiny takes place.
At this stage, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) appear before the respective committees of the National Assembly to defend their proposed allocations and respond to questions on budget implementation and expenditure priorities.
This process has been ongoing for several weeks and is expected to conclude before the budget returns to plenary for final legislative consideration.
In January 2026, the Senate fixed March 17 as the tentative date for final consideration and passage of the ₦58.18 trillion 2026 budget.
Earlier, the Senate Committee on Appropriations had scheduled February 2 to February 13 for committee-level consideration of the budget estimates during a special session held in Abuja.
Whether the current timetable will ultimately be met remains uncertain, particularly in light of the shifting resumption dates. What is clear, however, is that the committee stage of the budget process, where the most detailed scrutiny of the appropriation proposals occurs, is still underway.