.......Why we increased 2025 budget by M750 billion, NASS
The National Assembly has passed the budget for the 2025 fiscal year.
The passed budget by the Senate and House of Representatives yesterday raised from N54.2 trillion to N54.990,165,355,396 trillion. This shows an increase of N750 billion.
According to the report, the Budget size was increased by N750 Billion to cater for 8270 billion differential between the details of the budget and the bill; the provision of $200m which is equivalent to &300bn for procurement of vaccines and drugs: and some agencies of government were provided funds to take care of critical needs.
Out of the total sum, N3.6 trillion is for statutory transfers; N14.3 trillion – debt service; N13.6 trillion – recurrent (non-debt) expenditure while the sum of N23.9 trillion is for capital expenditure.
The passage of the budget yesterday was sequel to the presentation and consideration of the report of the Senate and House Committee on Appropriations.
The National Assembly has however asked the Executive to present the Budget to it not later than three months before the next financial year as this will help them return the country to the January —December budget circle.
Recall that on Wednesday, December 18th, 2024, President Bola Tinubu had presented the 2025 Appropriation Bill od N49.7 trillion at a joint session of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Also, President Tinubu had written the National Assembly, requesting that the earlier budget proposal of N49.7 trillion be increased to N54.2 trillion because of the additional revenue generated by key agencies of government.
The letter is titled, "2025 APPROPRIATION BILL - ALLOCATION OF ADDITIONAL REVENUE OF N4.53 TRILLION"
According to the President of the Senate, the increase arose from N1.4trilliion additional revenues made by the Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS ) , N1.2trillion made by the Nigeria Customs Service , N1.8trilliion generated by some other Government Owned Agencies.
Presenting the report, Chairman Senate Commitee on Appropriations Senator Olamilekan Adeola, APC- OGun West and the Appropriations Committee, chairman Hon. Abubakar Bichi (APC, Kano) said: "“The Senate and House do receive the report of the Committee on Appropriations for the Bill of an Act to authorise the issue from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation the total sum of N54.9 trillion, of which N3.6 trillion is for statutory transfers; N14.3 trillion is for the debt service; N13.6 trillion is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure while the sum of N23.9 trillion is for contribution to the development fund for capital expenditure for the year ending 31st December, 2025.”
The highlights of the 2025 budget estimate are as follows:
Aggregate Expenditure 54,990,165,355,396; Statutory Transfers 3,645,761 ,358,925; Recurrent Expenditure 13,064,009,682,673; Capital Expenditure 23,963,251 ,624,250 V. Debt Servicing 14,317,142,689,548; Fiscal Deficit 13.08 Trillion and Deficit/GDP 1.52%
"Capital Supplementation: In addition to the main capital expenditure, the budget includes a capital supplementation of ₦6.37 trillion, further enhancing the government’s capacity to complete ongoing projects and invest in new initiatives."
On Key Revenue Projections: "The Federal Government’s share of net federation revenues is projected at ₦27.49 trillion.Independent revenues from government-owned enterprises (GOEs), such as Galaxy Backbone and the Bank of Industry, are expected to contribute ₦3.47 trillion.
Special levies and accounts are projected to bring in ₦300 billion, while foreign aid and grants are estimated at ₦761.91 billion. Expenditure Breakdown: The 2025 budget sets a total aggregate expenditure of ₦49.74 trillion, broken down into key areas:
"Capital Expenditure: ₦14.85 trillion has been allocated for capital projects aimed at boosting infrastructure across sectors. Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure: A total of ₦14.12 trillion will be spent on non-debt recurrent expenditure, covering the salaries and operational costs of ministries, departments, and agencies.
Debt Service: The government will allocate ₦16.33 trillion to service domestic and foreign debts, including ₦7.19 trillion for domestic debts and ₦6.75 trillion for foreign obligations.
"Statutory Transfers: ₦4.44 trillion is earmarked for statutory transfers, including significant allocations for the National Judicial Council (₦521.63 billion), the Universal Basic Education Commission (₦496.84 billion), and the Niger Delta Development Commission (₦626.53 billion).
Key Ministry Allocations:
"The Ministry of Defense receives ₦2.51 trillion to strengthen national security. The Ministry of Education has been allocated ₦1.16 trillion to support the education sector, while the Ministry of Health receives ₦957.5 billion to address healthcare needs.
"Regional development commissions, including the North-East, North-West, and South-West Development Commissions, have each been allocated ₦140 billion for ongoing projects. Despite the robust revenue projections, the budget reflects a fiscal deficit of ₦13.39 trillion, signaling the government’s reliance on debt financing. The budget includes ₦9.28 trillion in debt financing items to cover the gap and sustain key programmes."
The report further read, "After the series of meetings held, the Committee on Finance in conjunction with our Committee sourced additional revenue from some revenue generating Agencies, detailed below: Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs) 1,823, 879, 970, 637 ; Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS): #41,497,600,000,000 (Federal Government's 52% share of the increase in revenue from 22.1 trillion to 825.1 trillion after the deduction of cost of collection). Nigerian Customs Service (NCS): &41,209,000,000,000 (Federal Government's share of the increase in revenue from &6.5 trillion to 9.0 trillion after the deduction of cost of collection).
"The total sum of N4,530,479,637 additional revenue realised from the above effort was communicated to
the Executive who applied the funds to address critical
challenges and advance the Governments development as follows: Solid Minerals Sector — $41 trillion only. Recapitalization of the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) 41.5 trillion only. Recapitalization of Bank of Industry (Bol) 500 billion only: and iv. Critical Infrastructure Projects (RHID Fund) - 1.5 trillion only to cater for: a.lrigation Development (Through River Basin Development Authorities): 4380 billion
"Transportation Infrastructure (roads & Rail): &700 billion (8300 Billion for construction & rehabilitation of critical roads and 4400 billion for light rail network development in urban centres. c.Border Communities also got the sum of: 50billion. Military Barracks Accommodation got the sum of #4250 billion. Military Aviation &4120 billion. The Joint Committee also discussed issues arising from excess of the details of the budget over the bill to the tune of 270 billion."
Speaking with journalists, Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriations, Solomon Olamilekan said that President Tinubu took proactive steps to ameliorate the United States Agency that President Donald Trump recently suspended any further donation to the health sector.
The US President’s action shows that patients, especially in Nigeria, who are beneficiary of these donor agencies, who are suffering from tuberculosis, from HIV, from polio, and also malaria, which donor agencies have been giving out all these drugs and everything, there will be no supplies.
According to Adeola, Tinubu's proactive step made available the sum of $200 million, which equivalents to around N300 billion for this particular purpose while the National Assembly made provisions for N750 billion to take of such funding gap.
He said that the National Assembly took the proactive measure so that Nigeria will not like Uganda and other African nations, who solely depend on these aid agencies that have been suspended who are now suffering from these actions of President Donald Trump.
On his part, the Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Abubakar Bichi, yesterday attributed reason for the increase in the 2025 budget by an additional N750 billion to the withdrawal of health support by the United States.
He said that the budget increase is aimed at bolstering the health sector and funding critical infrastructure projects across the country.
"As you know, the United States government has withdrawn its support for some countries in terms of providing health support, and Nigeria is among them," Bichi said in a statement.
"The president proactively requested an addition of $200 million, which is about N300 billion, to cater to the health sector for people facing challenges like tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, and polio."
He further explained that the executive proposal included a detailed estimate of around N340 billion, bringing the total to N640 billion for the health sector and other priority areas. "If you add it all together, it gives you around N640 billion," Bichi noted.
In addition to the health sector, Bichi revealed that several agencies, including INEC, NFYU, DSS, and others, had submitted general requests, which further increased the budget. "That's what makes it a N700 billion addition," he explained.
The budget will also address the country’s capital expenditure, which has suffered a N23 trillion loss. According to Bichi, the funds will go towards "critical projects such as rail projects, road infrastructures, agriculture, as well as education."
When asked about the funding sources for this significant increase, Bichi reassured Nigerians that the government had taken careful measures to secure the necessary resources.
"Before we increased the budget, we had a meeting with the Ministry of Finance, the Nigerian Coastal Service, and FRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service), and they confirmed to us that they will be able to come up with enough funding for the budget," he stated.
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