- The National Assembly has passed the N54.99 trillion 2025 budget estimates
- The estimate is N790 billion higher than the N54.2 trillion presented by President Bola Tinubu
- Key highlights of the bill include allocations of N13.64 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, N23.96 trillion for capital expenditure, and N14.32 trillion for debt servicing, among others
The National Assembly has passed the N54.99 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill, which is N790 billion higher than the N54.2 trillion presented by President Bola Tinubu.
The bill was passed on the floor of the Senate and House of Representatives during the plenary on Thursday, February 13.
At the House of Representatives, the bill was presented at the plenary by the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi and later considered by the Committee of the Whole for passage.
It was subsequently passed at the House after a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole.
The Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, put the bill on a voice vote after the House reverted to plenary and passed by the House.
Senate passed the budget following committee’s report
The 2025 Appropriation Bill was passed by the Senate following a report of the Senate Committee on appropriations presented by its chairman, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola.
After the report, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, read out a breakdown of the total budget to the lawmakers.
Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, thereafter, moved a motion that the 2025 Appropriation Bill be passed for the third time, which was seconded by the Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro.
Key highlights of the bill
Key highlights of the Appropriation Bill reviewed by the National Assembly include a total aggregate expenditure of N54.99 trillion, statutory transfers of N3.65 trillion, and recurrent (non-debt) expenditure of N13.64 trillion.
Capital expenditure was put at N23.96 trillion. The bill also showed that debt servicing will gulp N14.32 trillion, a fiscal deficit of N13.08 trillion, and a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 1.52 per cent.
The bill’s key allocations were contained in the report by Senate and House Committees on Appropriations.
It read, “The House receives the report of the Committee on Appropriations for the bill of an Act to authorise the issuance of the total sum of N54.9 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
“This includes N3.6 trillion for statutory transfers, N14.3 trillion for debt service, N13.6 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and N23.9 trillion for the Development Fund for capital expenditure for the year ending December 31, 2025.”
President Tinubu raised the budget estimates by N4.5 trillion
Recall that on February 5, President Tinubu increased the 2025 budget estimates by N4.5 trillion from an initial N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion.
The president cited additional revenues generated by key government agencies, including N1.4 trillion from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), N1.2 trillion from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and N1.8 trillion generated by other government-owned agencies.
2025 budget to be passed before January 30, scales second reading at National Assembly
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, assured that the National Assembly will pass the 2025 Appropriation Bill before January 30.
This is even as the budget scaled the second reading at the legislative chamber during plenary on Thursday, December 19, after the legislators extensively debated it.
