Nigeria may be moving towards a single funding framework for research and innovation as President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to establish a National Research and Development Fund aimed at replacing the fragmented financing arrangements currently spread across government ministries, departments and agencies.
Tinubu’s proposal was contained in the National Research and Development Fund (Establishment) Bill, 2026, transmitted to the Senate as lawmakers resumed plenary after a nine-week recess.
The bill, which was read on the floor by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, seeks to create a central mechanism through which research institutions, agencies and academic institutions can compete for funding based on national priorities.
Rather than allowing individual research bodies to continue operating largely through separate mandates and budgetary allocations, the proposed framework is designed to pool research resources and channel them towards strategic areas of science, technology and innovation.
In the letter accompanying the bill, Tinubu said the proposed fund would promote more efficient utilisation of available resources while improving collaboration between research agencies, universities and the private sector.
The President also linked the proposed funding structure to the commercialisation of Nigerian research, with the stated objective of turning locally developed technologies and innovations into practical products and services capable of reducing dependence on foreign technology.
Under the proposed legislation, the National Research and Development Fund would operate as an agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology.
The proposed fund is also expected to operate as a competitive funding mechanism, with applications and allocations subjected to evaluation criteria intended to improve transparency in decisions on which research projects receive public support.
Tinubu said the legislation was necessitated by the proliferation of research institutions and agencies, each currently operating with separate mandates and budgetary allocations, a situation he said made effective management of limited resources more difficult.
The proposed central funding arrangement is therefore expected to place greater emphasis on coordination, strategic priorities and collaboration instead of maintaining multiple financing channels across the research ecosystem.
The Presidency said the bill had been reviewed by relevant stakeholders, including the Ministries of Education; Innovation, Science and Technology; and Justice, before its transmission to the National Assembly.
Tinubu urged the Senate to consider and pass the legislation expeditiously.
The bill was subsequently referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative consideration, marking the beginning of the parliamentary process that will determine whether the proposed national research funding architecture becomes law.
