The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s 2026 budget, describing it as a “Budget of Consolidated Renewed Sufferings” that continues to impose economic hardships on Nigerians while enriching the governing class.
In a statement on Friday, the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, argued that despite claims of economic growth and stability, the budget fails to address widespread poverty, rising living costs, and insecurity, highlighting the administration’s inability to translate fiscal policies into real benefits for citizens.
President Tinubu on Friday presented a ₦58.18 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, projecting cautious economic improvement and promising stricter budgetary discipline.
The fiscal plan, themed “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” is aimed at consolidating recent macroeconomic gains, restoring public confidence, and converting stability into broad-based prosperity.
Responding to the presentation, the PDP argued that Nigerians have continued to endure severe economic hardships under the current administration.
“We see it rather as a budget of consolidated renewed sufferings, because what Nigerians have witnessed since the birth of this administration is unmitigated hardship on the people, while the governing class relishes in affluence,” Ememobong said.
ALSO READ:Security tops 2026 budget as Tinubu allocates N5.41tn
The opposition party also questioned the administration’s cited GDP growth of 3.98%. “It is well established that economic growth alone does not guarantee improved living standards.
According to the 2025 World Bank Poverty & Equity Brief, more than 30.9% of Nigerians live below the international extreme poverty line. This shows that growth is not translating into prosperity for the majority of citizens,” Ememobong said.
The PDP further noted that the President did not specify which sectors drove the 3.98% growth or who benefited from it. By contrast, the 6.87% growth rate recorded in 2013 under the last PDP administration was largely driven by non-oil sectors such as agriculture and trade.
“Today, the President celebrates a 3.98% growth rate, yet Nigerians continue to face excruciating hunger, high costs of living, and other economic hardships,” the party added.
While acknowledging the security allocation in the 2026 budget, the PDP emphasized that funding alone is insufficient.
“We demand effective and transparent execution to ensure security funding translates into tangible improvements , modern equipment, adequate ammunition, better intelligence, and improved welfare for personnel currently engaged in theatres of armed conflict where criminal non-state actors are alleged to have superior arms,” the statement read.
The party also raised concerns about the concurrent operation of multiple budgets. “The President admitted that execution of the 2024 capital budget extended into December 2025 while the 2025 budget is still in force.
This undermines fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability. Multiple budgetary regimes represent yet another unprecedented negative feat by this APC-led administration,” the PDP said.
Ememobong concluded by calling for greater financial transparency and accountability in managing the nation’s resources, which he said have been largely lacking under the current administration.