The National Assembly on Thursday passed the 2025 Appropriation Bill of N54.99tn, allocating N14.32tn for debt servicing and N13.64tn for recurrent expenditure covering salaries, overheads, and government operations.
Economists and members of the Organised Private Sector commended the government for the budget but expressed reservations regarding how it would be funded.
They praised it as necessary for economic growth but decried the cost of financing and how it posed the risk of heightened inflation.
The budget was passed following the concurrence on the bill by the Senate and House of Representatives during their separate plenary.
The lawmakers approved N23.96tn for capital projects under the development fund aimed at infrastructure growth and economic expansion while N344.85bn was allocated to the National Assembly.
The initial proposal of N54.2tn was increased by N700bn by the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations.
This was a sequel to the adoption of the report of the Committee of Supply in both chambers of the National Assembly.
In the reviewed budget estimates, statutory transfers account for N3.655tn, ensuring funding for constitutionally mandated entities.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the budget’s passage after most senators supported it through voice votes.
The senators supported the budget passage after reviewing a report by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Adeola Olamilekan.
Olamilekan, while presenting the report, recommended that N3.6tn be approved for Statutory Transfers, N14.3tn for debt service, N23.9tn for capital expenditure, and N13.8tn for fiscal deficit.
This increase comes about a week after President Bola Tinubu requested an upward budget revision by N4.5tn. He increased it from its initial proposal of N49.7tn to N54.2tn.
In his letter to the National Assembly, the President explained that the increment was necessary due to additional revenue from the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Customs Service, and other revenue-generating agencies in 2024.
According to the breakdown, the Federal Inland Revenue Service contributed N1.4tn, the Nigeria Customs Service N1.2tn, and other government-owned enterprises netted N1.8tn.
Olamilekan said the additional request of N4.5tn by President Tinubu was approved to address critical challenges and advance government developments.
He said N1tn was approved for the solid minerals sector and N1.6tn for the recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture. He said N5tn was approved for infrastructural projects, including irrigation development through River Basin Development Authorities, which specifically gulped N380bn.
A total of N300bn was approved for the construction and rehabilitation of critical roads while N400bn was allocated for light rail networks in urban centres. Border communities also got N50bn, military barracks got N250bn and N120bn was appropriated for military aviation.
Addressing the House of Representatives during Thursday’s plenary, the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi, who moved for the consideration of the budget proposal said, “The House do consider the Report of the Committee on Appropriations Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N54.99tn of which N3.65tn only is for Statutory Transfers.
“N14.32tn only is for debt service, N13.06tn only is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure while the sum of N23.96tn only is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on December 31, 2025.”
On December 18, 2024, the House received the committee’s report and on December 19, had the clause-by-clause consideration of the 2025 Appropriation Bill.
A breakdown of the allocations obtained by The KUKURUKU revealed that the National Assembly allocated to itself a total sum of N344.85bn in the 2025 fiscal year. Others include the National Judicial Council, N521.63bn; Niger Delta Development Commission, N626.53bn and the North West Development Commission, N145bn.
The South-West, South-East, South-South, and North-Central Development Commissions were allocated N140bn each by the Appropriation Committee. Meanwhile, the North-East Development Commission was allocated N241bn.
The Independent Electoral Commission was allocated N140bn by the Committee on Appropriations, more than its request for N126bn.
The INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, had on January 10, 2025, while defending the commission’s 2024 budget performance, said, “Our proposal for 2025 is that the commission requires the sum of N126bn. So, we would like the support of the National Assembly members to ensure that we are adequately funded for the responsibilities we are required to discharge, and most of these responsibilities are constitutional. They are not just in the Electoral Act.”
Heeding the plea, the Appropriation Committee allocated N140bn to the electoral umpire to fund its operations in the 2025 fiscal year.
The Presidency was allocated N111bn, the Ministry of Defence N2.5tn, while the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Information and National Orientation were allocated N286.89bn and N75.88bn, respectively.
Others include the Ministry of Police Affairs, N1.2tn; Office of the National Security Adviser, N535.97bn; Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, N140bn and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, N155bn, among others.
During the clause-by-clause consideration of the Appropriation Bill, the member representing Ikwo/Ezza South Federal Constituency, Ebonyi State, Chinedu Ogar, drew the attention of the House to the absence of a rail project in the South-East.
He said, “We are talking about the light rail project in this year’s budget, connecting Kaduna, Lagos, and Ogun States. The South-East region where I come from is not captured.”
Responding, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas said the rail projects he referred to were ongoing, assuring however his observation would be made known to the President.
“We will bring this to the attention of Mr President and this may be addressed in a supplementary budget,” the speaker said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Bichi, had given reasons for the upward review of the 2025 budget proposal.
Briefing newsmen shortly after the budget passage, the Kano lawmaker cited the recent policy reversals by United States President Donald Trump as a deciding factor.
“The United States government has withdrawn its support for some countries in terms of providing health support, and Nigeria is among them. The president proactively requested an addition of $200m, which is about N300bn, to cater for the health sector and for people who have the challenge of tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, and polio.
“We also have some genuine requests from some agencies like INEC, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Department of State Services and so on. That is what makes up the additional N700bn,” he explained.
“There are some critical projects such as rail projects, road infrastructure, agriculture, as well as education. That’s where the money will go,” he added.
