The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has launched a blistering attack on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proposed 2026 budget, dismissing it as a fiscal plan that entrenches economic pain for ordinary Nigerians while allegedly shielding the political elite from the country’s worsening realities.
In a statement issued on Friday, December 19, 2025, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, described the ₦58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill as a “Budget of Consolidated Renewed Sufferings,” arguing that it fails to address the core challenges of mass poverty, spiralling living costs and persistent insecurity despite the government’s claims of economic recovery.
President Tinubu had earlier presented the budget to a joint session of the National Assembly, projecting cautious optimism about the economy and pledging stricter fiscal discipline.
He christened the proposal the “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” saying it was designed to stabilise the economy, restore confidence and convert recent macroeconomic gains into shared national prosperity.
The PDP, however, rejected this narrative, insisting that the lived experience of Nigerians contradicts the administration’s optimism.
The party stated, “What Nigerians have endured since the emergence of this administration is nothing short of unmitigated hardship. While the governing class continues to bask in affluence, the vast majority of citizens are trapped in worsening economic conditions.”
The opposition party took particular aim at the President’s claim that the economy recorded a 3.98 per cent growth rate, arguing that growth figures mean little in the absence of improved welfare for citizens.
Citing the World Bank’s 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief, the PDP noted that more than 30.9 per cent of Nigerians live below the international extreme poverty line, a reality it said exposes what it described as “growth without prosperity.”
PDP claimed, “Economic expansion alone does not guarantee better living standards. The persistence of widespread poverty clearly shows that whatever gains are being recorded are not reaching the majority of Nigerians.”
The PDP also faulted the government for failing to clarify the sectors driving the reported growth or identify the beneficiaries, contrasting the current figures with the 6.87 per cent growth rate recorded in 2013 under the last PDP-led administration, which it said was driven largely by non-oil sectors such as agriculture and trade.
While acknowledging the size of the security allocation in the 2026 budget, the party warned that funding without accountability would not resolve Nigeria’s security crisis.
It called for transparent and effective deployment of security funds to ensure improved intelligence, modern equipment, adequate ammunition and better welfare for security personnel battling armed groups across the country.
It stressed, “Allocation alone is not enough. Nigerians must see tangible improvements on the ground, especially for security operatives confronting criminal non-state actors who are widely believed to be better armed.”
The party further raised concerns over what it described as fiscal mismanagement, criticising the President’s admission that the implementation of the 2024 capital budget had been extended to December 2025 while the 2025 budget remains in operation.
According to the PDP, the concurrent execution of multiple budgets undermines fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability, and represents a troubling departure from accepted budgetary practice.
“No two budgets should run simultaneously,” the party said, describing the situation as “another unprecedented negative milestone” under the All Progressives Congress-led administration.
The PDP concluded by urging Nigerians to critically interrogate the 2026 budget, warning that without fundamental policy corrections and accountability, the document risks deepening hardship rather than delivering the shared prosperity promised by the government.
