The Peoples Democratic Party has criticised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2026 budget, describing it as a continuation of economic hardship for Nigerians despite official claims of stabilisation.
In a press statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, on 19 December 2025, the party reacted to the President’s presentation of the 2026 budget to the National Assembly, which was themed “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity.”
The party rejected the administration’s framing of the fiscal plan, stating that it viewed the proposal “rather as a budget of consolidated renewed sufferings, because what Nigerians have witnessed since the birth of this administration is nothing but unmitigated hardship on the people, while the governing class relishes in affluence.”
The PDP said Nigerians had “suffered greatly from many economic woes under this administration,” arguing that the President’s claim of a 3.98% GDP growth rate failed to reflect the lived realities of citizens.
Citing poverty data, the statement noted that “according to the 2025 World Bank Poverty & Equity Brief, more than 30.9% of Nigerians live below the international extreme poverty line,” adding that this showed “growth without prosperity for our citizens.”
The opposition party also questioned the basis of the reported growth figure, saying the President “stated that the economy under his watch grew by 3.98% without stating the sectors that stimulated the growth or identifying those who benefitted from it.”
It compared the figure with previous performance, describing it as “the economic decline the nation has suffered under the leadership of the APC-led Federal Government when compared to the growth rate of 6.87% recorded in 2013(same period under the last PDP administration), which was driven largely by non-oil sectors such as agriculture and trade.”
On security spending, the PDP acknowledged the allocation in the 2026 budget but warned that funding alone was not enough. It said, “allocation alone is insufficient,” and demanded “effective and transparent execution to ensure that security funding translates into tangible improvements.”
The statement further expressed concern over what it described as the simultaneous operation of multiple budgets, referencing the President’s admission that “the execution of the 2024 capital budget had been extended to December 2025, while the 2025 budget is still in force.”
According to the party, “this cannot be described as best practice,” arguing that concurrent budgets “undermines fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability.”
The PDP concluded by calling “for increased transparency and accountability in the administration of the finances of our country,” saying these values had been “conspicuously absent so far under this administration.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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