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The Federal Government exceeded its 2024 borrowing limit by N4.79 trillion after a wider-than-projected budget deficit forced it to raise significantly more financing than originally planned, according to the Budget Office of the Federation.

According to the latest Fourth Quarter and Consolidated Budget Implementation Report for 2024, the Federal Government’s new borrowings rose to N12.62 trillion, exceeding the budgeted N7.83 trillion by N4.79 trillion, or 61.2 percent.

The higher borrowing requirement followed a substantial revenue shortfall, which pushed the fiscal deficit to N13.51tn, well above the approved deficit of N9.18tn.

The report showed that aggregate federal government revenue stood at N20.98 trillion, compared with the budget estimate of N25.88 trillion, representing a shortfall of N4.90 trillion.

Total expenditure, however, amounted to N34.49tn, only N561.29bn below the approved estimate of N35.06tn, indicating that the wider fiscal gap was driven primarily by weaker revenue rather than higher spending.

The report read, “The revenue and expenditure outturn of the federal government resulted in a fiscal deficit of N13.51 trillion in the 2024 fiscal year. This was N4.34 tn (47.33 percent) above the projected budget deficit estimate for the year.”

It added that the deficit also exceeded the N10.55tn recorded in 2023, showing the increasing pressure on the country’s public finances.

An analysis of the government’s financing profile showed that domestic borrowing remained exactly on target at N6.06tn, but higher foreign borrowing and budget support significantly increased overall borrowings.

Foreign borrowing rose from the budgeted N1.77tn to N3.37tn, representing an increase of N1.60tn above target.

Also, the federal government received N3.19 trillion in budget support, despite making no provision for such financing in the 2024 budget. The source of the budget support, which was classified as new borrowing, was not disclosed.

Together, domestic borrowing, foreign borrowing, and budget support brought total new borrowings to N12.62 trillion, exceeding the approved borrowing program by N4.79 trillion.

An analysis of the Budget Office report showed that new borrowings financed about 36 percent of the Federal Government’s 2024 budget, highlighting the country’s continued dependence on debt to fund public expenditure.

Separate from the new borrowings, the report showed that multilateral and bilateral project-tied loans amounted to N1.98tn, compared with the budget estimate of N1.05tn, representing a positive variance of N929.45bn.

The report also showed that expected privatization proceeds of N298.49 billion did not materialize, as no revenue was realized from that source during the fiscal year.

According to the report, the fiscal deficit “was financed through multilateral/bilateral project-tied loans of N1.98 trillion, domestic borrowing of N6.06 trillion, foreign borrowing of N3.37 trillion, and budget support of N3.19 trillion in the period under review.”

The report attributed the wider financing gap largely to revenue underperformance.

It stated that total federal government revenue stood at N20.98 trillion, representing an increase of N8.50 trillion, or 68.11 percent, over the N12.48 trillion generated in 2023. However, revenue remained N4.89 trillion, or 18.92 percent, below the annual budget target.

It stated, “Total revenue inflow of the federal government stood at N20.98 trillion at the end of December 2024. This represents an N8.50 tn (68.11 percent) increase when compared to N12.48 tn that was reported at the end of 2023, but N4.89 tn (18.92 percent) lower than the 2024 annual budget estimate.”

Oil revenue remained the biggest source of weakness. Gross oil revenue amounted to N15.07tn, falling N4.93tn below the budget estimate of N19.99tn.

The report explained that international crude oil prices averaged $74.65 per barrel during the fourth quarter, below the budget benchmark of $77.96 per barrel. Average daily crude oil production also stood at 1.54 million barrels per day, well below the budget assumption of 1.78 million barrels per day.

Despite the weak oil performance, non-oil revenue exceeded expectations. The report showed that gross non-oil revenue reached N16.09 trillion, surpassing the annual estimate of N10.81 trillion by N5.29 trillion, or 48.91 percent.

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…as Gagdi take to aggressive questioning, say preliminary report out next week

…as IGP insist Adeyemi cannot be produced without court order

By Gloria Ikibah

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs Esther Didi Walson-Jack, on Wednesday admitted before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged creation of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) and the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) that her office approved requests based on documents that have now been established as fake.

Appearing before the committee, Walson-Jack disclosed that the purported Establishment Act submitted by the agency was neither genuine nor an authentic Act of the National Assembly.

She said: “I requested to see the documents myself and I saw that the Establishment Act was not really an authentic Act. I have almost 30 years of legal practice experience and immediately I saw it, I knew it was not.”

“I requested to see the documents myself and I saw that the Establishment Act was not really an authentic Act. I have almost 30 years of legal practice experience and immediately I saw it, I knew it was not,” she said.

Walson-Jack also acknowledged that her office relied on documents later discovered to be fake in granting an authorised establishment and recruitment waiver to the purported agency.

The Head of Service explained that officials of the purported agency presented themselves as representatives of a newly established federal body during the 2025 Annual Manpower Budget Defence exercise, accompanied by what appeared to be an Establishment Act and a letter appointing a Director-General.

According to her, under established civil service procedures, newly created agencies seeking to recruit staff are expected to present an enabling Act, the appointment letter of the chief executive and other supporting documents before an authorised establishment and provisional recruitment waiver are issued.

She said her office processed the request based on the documents presented, noting that the case was unprecedented.

“We now, having seen all the facts and observed all the documents, concede that we ought to have carried out more due diligence in the discharge of the duties of the office in issuing an authorised establishment and a recruitment waiver to the PEAC/PFIPC.

“In over almost a century of the Federal Civil Service, we have never encountered a situation like the current one. Criminals always try to be a step ahead of law enforcement,” she told lawmakers.

She further acknowledged discrepancies in the appointment letter purportedly issued by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President after comparing it with genuine correspondence.

“I’m not a forensic expert, but I can clearly see that the signatures are not the same,” she stated.

The committee chairman disclosed that forensic analysis by the Nigeria Police had already confirmed the signatures were entirely different.

“The police forensic department has already analysed the signatures and confirmed that those signatures are not the same. In fact, according to them, there was not even an attempt to imitate the signature,” the chairman said.
He added that investigations had established that the appointment letter was fake and that the purported Act establishing the agency was equally fabricated.

“You have clearly stated that you acted on false documents. You have now established, just like we have, that the letter of appointment of the so-called DG is not only forged, it is fake,” the chairman declared.

“If something is forged, there will be an attempt to imitate the signature. But in this case, the signatures are completely different. So I will not call it forged; I will say it is fake.”

The committee further alleged that the fake Establishment Act lacked all the mandatory features of a valid Act of the National Assembly.

“Our Acts have citation numbers, Supreme Court numbers, Gazette numbers and Gazette titles. The Act presented here has none of those features,” the chairman said.
Despite admitting lapses, Walson-Jack maintained that the approvals were granted following existing procedures based on documents presented to her office.

“Everything was done in accordance with the practice in the office. Out of the 88 ministries, departments and agencies processed, we are really surprised that we were unable to detect that PEAC/PFIPC had actually given us a false Establishment Act and what has now been proved to be a false letter of appointment.”

Speaking further, Walson-Jack pledged reforms to prevent a recurrence.”We take full responsibility and we will definitely review our processes to make them more fraud-proof,” she assured.

The committee also questioned officials from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over the issuance of an administrative code to the purported agency.

Accountant-General’s Office Defends Procedure, Blames Individual Lapse

A former Director Consolidation Account, and Director Federal Projects Mr. Joshua Patmi Luka, explained that his office received what appeared to be an official request from the State House for an administrative code for the agency.

“As part of our due diligence, what we did was to convey the administrative code to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and not to the so-called agency. The idea was that if it was not genuine, the whole thing would be unravelled,” he said.

However, the committee faulted the process after evidence showed that the response letter never reached the Permanent Secretary but was instead collected by the alleged fake Director-General.

The chairman said investigations had revealed that the purported Directorate of Administration and Support Services referenced in the correspondence did not exist within the State House.

“There is no Directorate of Administration and Support Services in the State House. That office does not exist,” he said.

He accused the officials of allowing the suspect to intercept official correspondence addressed to the Permanent Secretary.

“You allowed the fraudulent DG to come and pick the letter from your office instead of allowing someone from the Permanent Secretary’s office to receive it. If the letter had reached the Permanent Secretary, the fraud would have been unravelled immediately,” the chairman said.

Responding, Luka insisted the lapse was not institutional but attributable to an individual officer responsible for dispatching the correspondence.

“The problem here was not an office lapse; it was an individual lapse. Somebody was supposed to deliver that letter to the Permanent Secretary, State House, and it was not delivered there,” he said.

The committee maintained that evidence before it showed a coordinated use of fake appointment letters, forged legislative documents and fictitious State House offices to obtain official government approvals and budgetary processes.

It said its final report would detail the findings and recommendations after concluding the investigation.

Representing the Inspector-General of Police, Deputy Commissioner of Police, DD NPF National Cybercrime Centre
Olufemi Akinola informed the committee that Prince Adeyemi could not be produced because he remains in lawful custody under a subsisting court order.

The police assured lawmakers of their continued cooperation with the National Assembly but explained that any production of the suspect would require an order from a court of competent jurisdiction.

“In our custody on fourth quarter, the Nigerian police force may not be able to produce a suspect as requested… in view of the subsisting warrant. The Nigerian police force has one of the constitutional oversight powers of the National Assembly and remains committed to cooperate with the committee in the discharge of its mandate.

“However, in this case, it will be appreciated if the reproduction warrant could be sought from the court of competent jurisdiction to enable police to comply with this request.

The hearing was characterised by several tense exchanges between the committee and senior government officials as lawmakers scrutinised the evidence before them. Throughout the proceedings, the committee chairman maintained firm control of the session, leading most of the questioning and, at times, intervening to redirect witnesses or keep discussions focused on the issues under investigation. As a result, some officials were unable to complete their explanations, while other committee members had limited opportunities to raise questions or seek further clarification.

The committee said it would conclude the clarification stage of its investigation before presenting its preliminary findings to the public next week, ahead of the submission of its final report to the House of Representatives upon resumption from recess.

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Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday declared that the commencement of political campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections would not distract his administration from delivering ongoing infrastructure projects, insisting that the government’s greatest campaign strategy remains its performance.

“We are already campaigning with our performance. The major campaign is to provide the dividends of democracy. What are you going to tell the people when you have nothing to show? Our campaign is showing what we have done,” Wike said while inspecting ongoing road projects in Abuja.

The minister stressed that governance and politics would not conflict under his watch, maintaining that the visible transformation across the FCT had already become the strongest campaign message for President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“All we have to do is go back to the people and tell them we made promises and kept them. People want to see your report card, not empty rhetoric. As far as the FCT is concerned, we have shown our report card, and we have no problem winning any election whenever INEC fixes it,” he said.

Wike made the remarks after inspecting the construction of the Arterial Road N16 from Ring Road 11 to Ring Road III, linking Jahi with Gwarimpa and Karsana, being executed by CBC Global, and the 7.3-kilometre Tunga Madaki-Zuba road connecting the Abuja-Kaduna Highway, handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Expressing satisfaction with the pace of work on the Arterial Road N16 project, the minister disclosed that the contractor had assured the FCT Administration of completing the project by January.

“The road is very critical. If they deliver it by January as promised, I will be highly impressed. On our part, we will ensure adequate funding because once this road is completed, the entire Gwarimpa axis will be opened up,” he said.

On the Tunga Madaki-Zuba road, Wike praised CCECC for maintaining its reputation for timely delivery, noting that the company had assured the government of completing the project by December.

“I’m very impressed with what they are doing. The promises we made during the flag-off and commissioning of these projects are likely to be fulfilled. Despite the rains slowing earthworks, they have concentrated on drainage construction, which is progressing well,” he said.

The minister also disclosed that he had approved the relocation of electricity poles along the route to pave the way for the installation of streetlights.

He commended the commitment of Chinese construction firms handling major FCT projects, noting that many commence work without waiting for mobilisation payments because of their confidence in the government’s commitment to honour contractual obligations.

“What gives us happiness with these companies, particularly the Chinese companies, is that they don’t wait for mobilisation before starting work. They know the government will pay, and funding has not been a problem. As soon as I return to the office, I will ensure that funds are made available so we can achieve what we have promised,” Wike said.

He urged the contractors to sustain their partnership with the government and maintain the quality and pace of execution that have characterised ongoing projects across the territory.

The minister’s inspection forms part of the FCT Administration’s routine monitoring of infrastructure projects aimed at ensuring timely completion of roads and other critical public facilities under the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Tinubu administration.