The National Assembly has passed the 2025 Appropriation Bill, approving a total budget of ₦54.99 trillion, which exceeds President Bola Tinubu’s ₦54.2 trillion proposal.
The fiscal legislation was passed on Thursday by both the Senate and the House of Representatives after deliberations on revenue projections and expenditure plans. The approved budget will now be sent to the president for assent.
Breakdown of the Budget
The approved ₦54,990,165,355,396 budget includes:
- ₦3,645,761,358,925 for statutory transfers.
- ₦14,317.142,689,548 for debt servicing.
- ₦13,064,009,682,673 for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure.
- ₦23,963,251,624,250 for capital expenditure.
The budget also includes $200 million (₦300 billion) to address gaps in Nigeria’s health sector following the United States’ suspension of health aid, ensuring continued access to vaccines and treatments for malaria, polio, HIV, and tuberculosis.
Lawmakers Justify Increase
Speaking after the budget’s passage, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Solomon Adeola, explained the reason behind the additional ₦700 billion added to Tinubu’s proposal.
He stated that critical government agencies required extra funding.
These agencies include the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC), the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the National Judicial Council (NJC), the National Judicial Council (NJC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Department of State Services (DSS), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the armed forces.
Adeola also noted that the capital component of the 2024 budget is still being implemented and has been extended until June 2025.
He said, “We are running just two budgets – the 2024 budget capital, which has been extended to June of 2025, and the one that has just been passed, the 2025 budget. So, we have only two budgets that are working and we are conscious of that.”
“The reason we are having two budgets presently is as a result of the procurement process. I believe we are doing something in that regard to ensure that once the budget is passed, procurement should commence. So that in no time, once the procurement is concluded, funding of the budget can also commence.”
Budget Priorities and Economic Outlook
The 2025 budget aims to boost security, improve infrastructure, and ease the economic burden on Nigerians, especially as living costs continue to rise.
President Tinubu has assured that inflation, which hit 34.8 per cent in January, will drop to 15 per cent this year due to reduced fuel imports and economic policies.
The budget deficit is estimated at ₦13 trillion—1.52 per cent of GDP.
Lawmakers urged the executive to submit future budgets earlier, recommending that appropriation bills be presented at least three months before the next financial year to sustain the January-to-December budget cycle.
