The PDP criticised President Bola Tinubu's 2026 Appropriation Bill as fiscal drift dressed up in macroeconomic statistics, with party spokesperson Ini Ememobong describing it as "a budget of consolidated renewed sufferings." The party argued the budget failed to reflect the lived realities of Nigerians grappling with economic hardship, saying that "what Nigerians have witnessed since the birth of this administration is nothing but unmitigated hardship on the people, while the governing class relishes in affluence." The PDP's response echoed similar criticism from other opposition parties, who have consistently argued that the APC government's fiscal choices have deepened rather than eased the cost-of-living crisis facing ordinary households.