The Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) has praised the administration of President Bola Tinubu for achieving what it described as Nigeria’s highest infrastructure spending level in 25 years.
In a statement released in Abuja on Sunday, the group’s chairman, Omoniyi Akinsiju, said the current administration had surpassed previous governments in annual capital expenditure.
According to IMPI, no administration since 2000 had exceeded 14 billion dollars in yearly infrastructure spending before the Tinubu government.
The policy group argued that decades of poor capital spending and weak budget implementation had deepened the country’s infrastructure challenges despite periods of strong oil revenue between 2000 and 2014.
It further noted that many administrations recorded implementation rates of less than 70 per cent of approved capital budgets, limiting the impact of public expenditure on development.
Akinsiju acknowledged improvements during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari, stating that infrastructure investment increased mainly through borrowing for major projects.
However, he said the Tinubu administration had become the first government in Nigeria’s history to exceed the 14.2 billion dollar annual infrastructure spending benchmark proposed by KPMG.
The IMPI chairman also highlighted the 2026 Appropriation Act, which earmarked about 23 billion dollars for infrastructure and capital expenditure.
He described the allocation, which accounts for nearly half of the national budget, as a major shift in Nigeria’s fiscal policy direction.
According to him, the budget demonstrates a stronger commitment to financing infrastructure development and addressing the country’s long-standing infrastructure deficit.
