Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, has requested an upward review of her ministry’s 2026 capital budget of N2.72 billion to accelerate delivery of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Ms Oduwole made the request on Wednesday at the 2026 budget defence session organised by the Joint House of Representatives Committee on Commerce in Abuja.

She recalled that in 2024, the sum of ₦14.39 billion was earmarked for the ministry and that the personnel and overhead allocations were fully utilised.

The minister, however, said that of the N8.36 billion capital allocation, 93.2 per cent was released, which was fully utilised.

According to her, the revenue performance exceeded the target by approximately ₦154 million, with full remittance to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

The minister said that in 2025, the ministry’s appropriation was ₦11.80 billion and that personnel and overhead allocations were again fully utilised.

Ms Oduwole, however, said that of the N3.89 billion capital allocation, no amount had been released till date and that the revenue performance exceeded the target by approximately ₦100 million, with full remittance to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

The minister said that the ministry’s 2026 budget comprised a focused set of programmes and projects designed to stimulate economic growth.

According to her, given the scope of responsibilities and the execution priorities outlined, the allocation will be a stretch in meeting the full demands of the ministry’s programmes and capital projects.

The minister said that Nigeria recorded total capital importation of approximately $21 billion in the first 10 months of 2025, up from about $12 billion in 2024 and under $4 billion in 2023.

“We are poised to strengthen Nigeria’s productive base, as we connect global and regional demand and capital with domestic supply capacity, in support of national development priorities.

“These interventions are aligned to support and accelerate the delivery of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu across the industry, trade and investment sectors.

“The emphasis is firmly ‘Nigeria First,’ prioritising local production and non-oil exports. Domestic investors will remain the anchor and strongest signal of confidence in the economy, while global investors will continue to be engaged through reverse trade missions and in-country investment visits,” she said.

The minister, therefore, sought the committee’s support for targeted enhancement of its capital allocation to enhance effective alignment of priority programmes with the objectives of the National Development Plan and Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, as presented to the National Assembly by the president.

Ms Oduwole said that the ministry would focus on implementation, advancing industrial policy through targeted value chains and industrial cluster development and special economic zones.

She said that in 2025, the ministry focused on translating policy into real economic activity through greater coordination, engagement and practical facilitation.

The minister said that Nigeria recorded total capital importation of approximately $21 billion in the first 10 months of 2025, up from about $12 billion in 2024 and under $4 billion in 2023.

Ms Oduwole explained that the recovery was supported by the ministry’s actions, including the curation of over $5 billion in bankable projects, sector-specific deal rooms and the country’s inaugural domestic investors’ summit.

She said that the activities had helped in re-engaging domestic capital and facilitated the resolution of about 50 investor bottlenecks, driving projects from intention to implementation.

She stated, “The ministry also undertook more than 100 bilateral investment engagements domestically and internationally with new friends such as the UAE, Brazil and Japan, as well as older strategic relationships, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

“Following sustained engagement under the Nigeria–UK Economic and Trade Partnership which commenced in Q2 2024, UK investors accounted for approximately 65 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign capital inflows in 2025. On trade and exports, Nigeria recorded a trade surplus in 2025, with total trade valued at approximately ₦113 trillion in the first three quarters of the year.

“Exports grew by about 11 per cent year-on-year to approximately $6.1 billion, the highest ever in both value and volume.On industrial development and diversification, Special Economic Zones generated over 500 million dollars in export revenues and created more than 20,000 direct jobs.”

Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Ahmed Munir (APC-Kaduna), pledged the committee’s support to enable the ministry to achieve its mandate.

He described the 2026 budget as a commitment to “the mother in Kano trading textiles, the youth tech entrepreneur in Lagos stringing together a startup and the manufacturer in Aba seeking to reach global markets.”

The lawmaker said that 2025 was a year of “surviving the storm,” stressing that the focus must now shift to “commanding the sea.”

​Mr Munir said that the committee was looking beyond budget performance in terms of mere fund exhaustion to value-for-money and tangible impact.

He added, ​“We must move from being a nation of consumers to a powerhouse of producers. We will scrutinise how this budget supports local content and “Made in Nigeria” initiatives.

“Small and medium enterprises are the heartbeat of our economy. This budget must prove it has the “oxygen” to keep that heart beating through accessible credit and reduced ease-of-doing-business bottlenecks.

“With the African Continental Free Trade Area in full swing, Nigeria cannot afford to be a spectator. We must invest in the infrastructure of commerce standardisation, certification and digital trade.”

(NAN)