The corridors of the National Assembly hummed with anticipation on Tuesday as lawmakers returned to plenary after the Christmas and New Year break. For many Nigerians, it wasn’t just another legislative recoil—it was the moment when real decisions about the country’s future would take centre stage.
Standing tall on the agenda is the ₦58.47 trillion 2026 Appropriation Bill presented late last year by President Bola Tinubu—a budget that Nigerians hope will deliver jobs, opportunity, improved living standards and firm economic footing after years of tight fiscal belts and reforms. But beneath the staggering digits lies the hope and worry of everyday Nigerians.
For traders in Lagos markets, it’s about whether fuel and food prices will stabilise. For civil servants in Jos and Kano, it’s about whether wages and promises of pension payments will be honoured. For farmers in Kaduna and youths in Port Harcourt, it’s about whether the budget will translate into real water, roads, and electricity where they live. These are the human realities often lost in legislative arithmetic.
Just last year, only a small portion of the 2025 capital budget was released as hoped—leaving many projects unfinished and communities waiting.
Alongside the finances, a more profound conversation has begun: revisiting the constitution itself.
Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution—long criticised for gaps and contradictions—has been under painstaking review. Lawmakers now aim to conclude this work and send a revised draft to the State Houses of Assembly for ratification. If successful, this could reshape how power is shared, how governments deliver services, and how citizens’ rights are protected.
For citizens like Aisha Umar in Sokoto, the prospect is personal: “We need a constitution that reflects who we are today, not who we were decades ago,” she says, her voice reflecting a common yearning across the country.
With the 2027 general elections on the horizon, another critical priority for the lawmakers is fine-tuning the nation’s electoral laws. The goal, lawmakers say, is to strengthen transparency and credibility so that when Nigerians go to the polls, they feel confident their votes will count.
But civil society groups have cautioned lawmakers not to abandon constitutional reform and electoral amendments, warning that credibility at the ballot box starts with laws that all Nigerians trust.
Back in the chambers, not all lawmakers are starry-eyed. Some describe the task ahead as “daunting”—balancing a huge budget while tackling legal reforms that have been decades in the making. With only months left in the life of the current Assembly, the pressure to deliver is palpable.
Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Leader, has assured Nigerians that the budget will be examined with the care it deserves and that the constitution review will be completed in time for wider public engagement.
For everyday citizens, the resumption of the National Assembly’s work is more than political news—it represents a chance for progress.
It is a moment when numbers on paper could translate into new roads, better schools, stronger security, and more inclusive governance. It is a moment when changes to the constitution could deepen Nigeria’s democratic roots. And it is a moment that reminds all Nigerians that democracy—messy, slow, imperfect—is an ongoing journey, not a destination.
As the lawmakers settle into another year of debate and decisions, Nigerians across the country will be watching closely—because every line in the budget, and every clause in the constitution, affects the lives they live.
