The Senate will receive the report of the 2025 budget this week for possible passage, Sen. Godswill Akpabio hinted on Tuesday.
Akpabio, who is the President of the Senate, gave the information as he presided over proceedings in Abuja, saying that the report would be received on Wednesday or Thursday.
Giving reasons why the chamber had a scanty attendance by senators at the start of the plenary on Tuesday, Akpabio said members of the Committee on Appropriations had been busy putting the finishing touches to the budget to present the details “tomorrow (Wednesday) or next (Thursday).”
The committee is chaired by Sen. Adeola Olamilekan (APC, Ogun-West).
Akpabio stated, “You will observe that some of our colleagues are not in the chamber because of the required final touches on the 2025 Appropriation Bill, a report of which will be laid before us tomorrow (Wednesday) or next tomorrow (Thursday) this week.
“So we will need to close early to allow for collective efforts in that direction for final consideration and passage of the 2025 Appropriation Bill.”
President Bola Tinubu had presented the initial estimates of ₦49.7 trillion to a joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives on 18 December 2024.
However, Tinubu later on 5 February wrote to the Senate, increasing the budget size to ₦54.2 trillion.
He explained that this was made possible by additional revenue figures generated by government agencies.
For instance, the President said ₦1.4 trillion was generated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generated ₦1.2 trillion; while other public agencies raked in ₦1.8 trillion.
In December, while presenting the initial estimates, Tinubu said the budget incorporated a deficit of 3.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or ₦13 trillion.
He stated, “In 2025, we are targeting ₦34.82 trillion in revenue to fund the budget. Government expenditure in the same year is projected to be ₦47.90 trillion, including ₦15.81 trillion for debt servicing.
“A total of ₦13.08 trillion, or 3.89 per cent of GDP, will make up the budget deficit.
“The budget projects inflation will decline from the current rate of 34.6 per cent to 15 per cent next year, while the exchange rate will improve from approximately ₦1,700 per US dollar to ₦1,500 and a base crude oil production assumption of 2.06 million barrels per day (mbpd).”
The Senate earlier indicated it could pass the budget by 31 January, a date it failed to keep as days moved into weeks in February.
Passing the budget later than 30 December 2024 also meant that the country had lost the January-December budget cycle, which the 8th and 9th National Assembly worked to achieve.
Nigerian Tribune
