Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, says Nigeria has one of the smallest national budgets among the world’s 10 most populous countries despite its large population and development needs.

Bagudu made the statement on Monday in Abuja at a Senate Press Corps Capacity-Building Workshop organised around the theme, “Leveraging Legislative Oversight and Media Collaboration to Safeguard the National Budget from Unlawful Insertion.”

He said Nigeria needed a broader national conversation on revenue mobilisation and expanding the country’s fiscal space to adequately fund development and achieve its long-term economic objectives.

The minister said the country’s budget discussion should begin with questions about the size of the national budget and whether its current level was sufficient to meet the needs of the population.

“I would like to say that out of the top 10 most populous countries in the world, we have the smallest national budget.

“Should we continue with a budget that leaves our populace with one of the smallest budgets, or should we consider how we can mobilise more resources?” he said.

Bagudu also urged journalists to scrutinise budget provisions thoroughly and provide context when reporting on public spending.

He said effective budget oversight should go beyond identifying controversial provisions to examining the constitutional process, the rationale behind budgetary allocations and the development needs they were intended to address.

The minister linked the issue of resource mobilisation to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Nigeria’s Agenda 2050, saying the country’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy required greater attention to how resources were generated and used.

He said decisions on revenue, expenditure and borrowing were closely linked to public confidence, adding that citizens’ understanding and support were important to the ability of the government and National Assembly to make major fiscal decisions.

Bagudu also stressed the constitutional role of the National Assembly in the budget process, noting that the legislature has the ultimate authority over the national budget within Nigeria’s constitutional framework.

He urged the media to strengthen budget scrutiny through evidence-based reporting while cautioning against assuming that every unfamiliar budget provision was irregular.

The minister said journalists should investigate the origin, purpose and beneficiaries of specific provisions, noting that human processes and errors could occur in budget preparation.

He also called for a balanced approach to budget transparency, particularly where disclosure of sensitive information could have implications for national security or strategic interests.

Meanwhile, an analysis published in August showed that the combined budgets of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory rose by 47.5 per cent, from N27.22 trillion in 2025 to N40.14 trillion in 2026.

The analysis showed that although capital expenditure increased from N19.94 trillion to N25.83 trillion, its share of the combined budgets fell from 73.24 per cent in 2025 to 64.34 per cent in 2026.

The Federal Government’s 2026 budget stands at N68.32 trillion.