President Bola Tinubu has directed the Budget Office of the Federation to operationalise a clearer framework for sharing electricity subsidy costs across the federation, saying the burden should no longer be treated as an open ended federal residual and adding that consumers seeking stable power must be ready to pay for it.
The directive was disclosed by the Director General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu, while speaking at a training for staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies on the 2026 post budget preparation using the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System.
Yakubu said the president wants the electricity sector legal framework invoked to make burden sharing practical and transparent, stressing that subsidy costs must be explicit, tracked and properly funded to prevent arrears, liquidity crises and hidden market liabilities.
“If we want a stable power sector, we must pay for the choices we make. When tariffs are held below cost, a gap is created. That gap is a subsidy. And a subsidy is a bill. In 2026, we will stop pretending that this bill can be left to the Federal Government alone especially where the policy choice or the political benefit is shared across tiers of government,” he said.
According to him, the directive also requires that where any tier of government chooses affordability interventions, the funding responsibilities must be clear, agreed and enforceable, noting that the approach is not punitive but aimed at alignment.
“This is not punishment. It is alignment. When everyone carries a fair share of the cost, everyone also has an incentive to support cost reflective efficiency, targeted protection for the vulnerable and a power market that can actually deliver,” Yakubu stated.
He was represented at the event by the Director, Expenditure, Budget Office, Mr Yusuf Muhammed, who urged 2026 budget planners to make subsidy related costs visible in their planning and submissions and avoid pushing liabilities into the market as arrears or unfunded commitments.
“Support transparent, rules based attribution and financing of affordability decisions,” he charged.
Yakubu also lamented that rollover budgeting and fragmented project lists have weakened execution, reduced clarity, diluted accountability and created hidden obligations within the public finance system.
“We must speak plainly. Rollover budgeting and fragmented project lists have weakened execution. They reduce clarity. They dilute accountability. They create hidden obligations,” he said.
He explained that the 2026 Budget is designed as one coherent implementation framework, consolidating commitments into a single visible pipeline to be managed as a disciplined programme of delivery, which he described as the single train approach.
