2027 budget to be ready before end of December – FG

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA — THE MINISTER of State for Budget, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, on Wednesday assured that the 2027 budget will be ready for presentation before the end of 2026 to allow for legislative consideration ahead of the new fiscal year. The Minister disclosed while fielding questions from State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“We are working on the 2027 budget, and our intention is to present it before the end of the year,” Uzoka-Anite said. The planned timeline is expected to give the National Assembly an opportunity to scrutinise the proposed estimates and deliberate on the government’s revenue projections and expenditure priorities before the commencement of the 2027 fiscal year.

The annual budget serves as the Federal Government’s principal fiscal policy instrument, setting out its spending priorities, revenue expectations and economic objectives for the year. The minister also announced that the council approved the revised 2026 national policy on food and nutrition in Nigeria and the National Nutrition Bill 2026. She said the documents were developed through collaboration among the office of the vice-president, the ministries of budget and economic planning, agriculture, livestock, education and health, as well as the private sector, the national assembly, and development partners.

According to the minister, the documents provide a framework for coordinating and implementing food and nutrition programmes nationwide, while promoting sustainable funding and accountability. She said the measures are aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Nigerians by reducing childhood stunting, adding that the nutrition bill, an executive bill, would be forwarded to the national assembly for consideration.