Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is set to present a proposed N4.2 trillion budget for the 2026 fiscal year to the Lagos State House of Assembly, following the legislature’s confirmation that it has received a formal request from the governor to schedule a date for the presentation.
On Monday, the Assembly announced that it had received an official communication from the governor asking lawmakers to fix a suitable day for him to lay the 2026 Appropriation Bill before them.
According to the communication, ‘the governor is proposing a total budget estimate of N4.27 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year’.
The letter, read on the floor by the Clerk, Olalekan Onafeko, formally set in motion the legislative process leading to the budget presentation.
As of press time, the Assembly had not fixed a date for the presentation.
When contacted on Tuesday about when the governor would appear before the House, Clerk Onafeko said he would get back to The PUNCH but had yet to do so.
The proposed N4.2 trillion budget marks a major leap in Lagos State’s annual spending plan, which has grown by more than N3 trillion in five years.
Figures from the state’s budget history show that Lagos’ appropriation has risen from N1.1 trillion in 2021 to the N4.2 trillion now proposed for 2026 — an increase of N3.074 trillion under Governor Sanwo-Olu.
In 2022, the state raised its budget to N1.75 trillion, followed by N1.76 trillion in 2023, and a significantly higher N2.26 trillion in 2024.
By 2025, Lagos crossed the N3 trillion threshold with a N3.366 trillion budget, ahead of the even larger N4.237 trillion proposed for 2026.
Reacting to the growth trend, an economist and Chief Executive of Cowry Treasurers Limited, Charles Sanni, described the rising budget size as a welcome development.
‘The intention of the government should always be positive and upward-looking’, he told The PUNCH.
Sanni added that as long as the budget trajectory is rising, there is no cause for concern.
‘If it’s going down, we have a cause to worry’, he said.
‘So, speaking to that, I’m not worried; it’s a welcome development. It means that the government is expanding its infrastructure. If we’re seeing that increase in the capital expenditure, that speaks well; it means the economy is growing’.
The economist also cited factors driving the steady rise, including inflationary pressures and higher allocations to states.
‘The impact of the inflation must be well captured in that budgetary proposal, which is the impact you’re seeing. Thirdly, after the naira floatation (and fuel subsidy removal), state governments have received a greater percentage of the allocation. So it is expected that we see this level of increase in the budget’, he said.
