At least 13 State Houses of Assembly across Nigeria have collectively added more than ₦1 trillion to their states’ 2026 budgets after reviewing and amending appropriation bills submitted by governors, an analysis by Saturday PUNCH has revealed.
The increase emerged from a comparison of the original budget proposals presented by state governors and the final appropriation laws passed by the assemblies, with the differences reflecting legislative insertions and adjustments.
This development comes against the backdrop of sustained public pressure to reduce the cost of governance, amid growing fiscal stress, rising debt levels and increasing debt-servicing obligations faced by sub-national governments.
Each year, governors present budget proposals—commonly referred to as appropriation bills—to their respective assemblies for scrutiny, amendment and approval. These budgets are typically divided into recurrent expenditure, which includes salaries, overheads, pensions and routine operations, and capital expenditure, which funds infrastructure and development projects.
In the first half of 2025, about 20 states borrowed approximately ₦458bn, according to their second-quarter 2025 budget implementation reports. During the same period, states spent ₦235.58bn servicing external debts, representing an increase of ₦95.65bn or 68.4 per cent compared with the ₦139.92bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
For 2026, 10 states are also planning to raise about ₦4.29tn, largely through loans and grants, to finance budget deficits.
Despite repeated calls for assemblies to rein in spending and curb deficits—often funded through domestic and foreign borrowing—lawmakers in several states have continued to increase budget estimates submitted by governors.
In 2025 alone, about 15 state assemblies raised their states’ budgets by a combined ₦470bn, further swelling expenditure despite appeals for fiscal restraint. States where budgets were increased included Bayelsa, Ondo, Gombe, Edo, Oyo, Osun, Katsina, Ebonyi, Delta, Taraba, Zamfara, Plateau, Bauchi, Borno and Cross River.
As of the time of filing this report, roughly 30 states had their 2026 budgets signed into law, while about four were still undergoing legislative review.
Overall, no fewer than 13 of the 36 state assemblies injected about ₦866bn into their states’ 2026 budgets, with portions of the increases directed towards recurrent spending. Meanwhile, assemblies in about 17 states passed their budgets without altering the figures proposed by governors. These include Oyo, Enugu, Kogi, Plateau, Katsina, Kaduna, Abia, Imo, Adamawa, Edo, Bauchi, Jigawa, Ogun, Kebbi, Ekiti, Yobe and Zamfara.
Budgets are yet to be passed in Borno, Ebonyi, Kwara and Sokoto.
State-by-state additions
States where budgets were expanded include Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Kano, Benue, Gombe, Osun, Anambra, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River, Ondo, Nasarawa and Niger. Notably, six of these states had also seen similar budget inflations in the previous fiscal year, highlighting a recurring trend.
Lagos State topped the list, with the House of Assembly adding about ₦207.51bn to the 2026 budget, increasing it from ₦4.237tn to ₦4.44tn. The assembly had similarly raised the state’s 2025 budget by ₦360.88bn.
Akwa Ibom followed closely, with lawmakers increasing the budget from ₦1.39tn to ₦1.58tn, an addition of ₦194bn or about 14 per cent. The increase was spread across both recurrent and capital expenditure.
Cross River recorded one of the sharpest jumps, as lawmakers added about ₦180bn, raising the budget from ₦780.59bn to ₦961bn.
Kano ranked third, with the assembly increasing the budget from ₦1.368tn to ₦1.477tn, while Benue added ₦89.5bn, raising its budget to ₦695.01bn.
In Gombe, lawmakers increased the budget by ₦82bn, while Delta raised its estimate by ₦65bn, up from ₦1.664tn to ₦1.729tn.
Niger and Ondo added ₦40bn and ₦31.6bn respectively, while smaller increases were recorded in Osun (₦17.7bn), Anambra (₦9bn), Bayelsa (₦18.63bn) and Nasarawa (₦27.7bn).
A recurring pattern
The trend of legislative upward budget reviews extends beyond the states to the federal level. In March 2024, the National Assembly increased the 2024 national budget from ₦27.5tn to ₦28.7tn, inserting 7,447 constituency projects valued at ₦2.24tn, according to BudgIT.
Similarly, the 2025 national budget saw further adjustments. President Bola Tinubu initially proposed ₦49.7tn in December 2024, later revising it to ₦54.2tn in February 2025, citing additional revenues. The National Assembly eventually passed the budget at ₦54.99tn, adding about ₦790bn.
Implications
Experts warn that this practice could widen fiscal deficits by increasing the gap between projected revenues and actual spending. A Professor of Economics at the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Taiwo Owoeye, noted that with many states struggling to grow internally generated revenue, the added spending pressure—often financed through borrowing—could worsen debt vulnerabilities.
He also cautioned that rising recurrent expenditure on personnel and overheads would further escalate the cost of governance, reduce fiscal flexibility and limit states’ ability to withstand economic shocks.