Bagudu Calls for Larger Budget as Nigeria Pursues $1tn Economy by 2030

Budget and Economic Planning Minister Abubakar Bagudu has called for a broader debate on mobilising public resources, saying Nigeria’s national budget is small relative to its population and development needs as the government pursues a $1 trillion economy by 2030.

At the Senate Press Corps’ capacity-building workshop in Abuja on Monday, September 28, Bagudu said Nigeria has the smallest national budget among the world’s 10 most populous countries. He urged lawmakers and the media to examine whether current spending and revenue mobilisation match the country’s development ambitions. The cross-country ranking is his claim; budgets can be measured differently across countries, including whether subnational spending is counted.

The federal government’s 2026 appropriation is ₦68.32 trillion. The State House lists ₦32.2 trillion for capital expenditure, ₦15.8 trillion for debt service, ₦15.4 trillion for recurrent costs and ₦4.799 trillion for statutory transfers. These allocations set out the federal spending framework against which the minister’s call for stronger resource mobilisation is being made.

The Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning says its Medium-Term National Development Plan for 2026–2030 is being finalised around the government’s $1 trillion economy target. The published plan outlines a strategy for double-digit GDP growth; the target is an official ambition, not a guaranteed forecast.

Bagudu linked the target to difficult choices about how Nigeria mobilises revenue and funds development. His workshop remarks put the annual budget’s scale in the debate, while the plan’s growth target and the 2026 allocations set out the ambition and current spending framework.