President Bola Tinubu has earmarked N5.41tn for Security, the single largest allocation in the proposed 2026 budget.
It marked the third consecutive year that defence and security spending has taken priority since the administration began presenting national budgets in November 2023.
Tinubu disclosed this on Friday while presenting the N58.18tn 2026 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly, where he said national security remained the foundation of economic growth, investment and social stability.
Under the proposal, defence and security will receive N5.41tn, ahead of infrastructure, education and health, reaffirming a pattern established in the 2024 and 2025 budgets, where security consistently attracted the highest sectoral funding amid persistent threats from terrorism, banditry and kidnapping.
Hours earlier, the Federal Executive Council had approved the 2026 budget framework at an emergency meeting presided over for the first time by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
The council pegged total expenditure at N58.47tn, with heavy spending pressures from debt service, wages and security obligations.Breaking down the 2026 proposal, Tinubu said the security vote would be deployed to modernise the armed forces, strengthen intelligence-driven policing, enhance border surveillance and support joint operations among security agencies.
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