2026 Budget: Analyst knocks Deputy Speaker, Kalu for N1bn allocation to churches

A financial analyst, Kalu Aja, has knocked the Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, over the controversial N1 billion allocation in the 2026 budget for churches in his constituency.

Recall that the National Assembly and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have come under fire over controversial allocations in the 2026 budget.

Specifically, it was reported that N1 billion was allocated to churches and mosques in the 2026 budget.

Kalu, in his defence, clarified that the fund, which stood at N750 million after the removal of Value Added Tax, VAT, is meant for 130 churches, with N6 million allocated to each church for youth reorientation and social support programmes.

Reacting in a statement posted on X on Wednesday, Aja said the allocation should have gone to schools, hospitals, and electrification projects rather than churches.

According to him, the Deputy Speaker lacks a developmental mindset.

“He WASTED it on buying ‘evangelical’ instruments for churches, giving N5m per church. Not to schools or hospitals owned by churches, but to buy microphones and speakers for the ‘yoot’.

“N1 billion will put working electrify all the schools and hospitals in his LGA ooh, but horseman don’t have a developmental mindset,” he wrote on X.

DAILY POST reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the N68.32 trillion 2026 Appropriation Act into law in April 2026.

However, the budget has been plagued by several controversial allocations.