The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), says the administration of President Bola Tinubu has recorded the highest capital spending in Nigeria in the last 25 years.
The IMPI Chairman, Dr Omoniyi Akinsiju, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
The group’s chairman said no administration since 2000 had exceeded 14 billion dollars in annual infrastructure spending until the current government.
The think-tank said decades of low capital expenditure widened Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit in spite several oil boom periods between 2000 and 2014.
“We note at this juncture the near-perennial low budget implementation threshold since 2000, with the obvious inconsequentiality of appropriated expenditure on infrastructural development,” it said.
According to Akinsiju, capital budget implementation remains below expectations for most years, with several administrations recording releases below 70 per cent of approved allocations.
He acknowledged that infrastructure spending improved during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari largely through borrowing for capital projects.
Akinsiju said that the Tinubu administration exceeded the 14.2 billion dollar annual infrastructure spending benchmark recommended by KPMG for the first time in Nigeria’s history.
“We acknowledge the record-breaking fiscal milestone set by the Tinubu-led administration, which matched and exceeded KPMG’s 14.2 billion dollars annual infrastructure spending estimate for the first time in Nigeria,” IMPI said.
The IMPI boss said the 2026 Appropriation Act allocated about 23 billion dollars to infrastructure and capital expenditure, representing nearly half of the total national budget.
“Without doubt, the 2026 budget is indicative of a new vista in the nation’s fiscal firmament with emphasis on securing debts for infrastructure development,” he said.
