Nigeria’s Super Eagles on Thursday failed to beat Benin Republic in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, qualifier as two West African neighbours settled for a 1-1 draw in Abidjan

With the results, Nigeria officially qualified for the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON, securing a top-two finish in Group D,

Benin opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Mohamed Tijani capitalized on a corner delivery from Junior Olaïtan, heading the ball into the center of the net.

The Super Eagles found themselves trailing despite creating opportunities, with Victor Osimhen and Moses Simon both testing Benin’s defence.

In the second half, Nigeria intensified their attack and were rewarded in the 81st minute when Osimhen met Simon’s cross with a precise header to level the score.

Benin fought hard to reclaim the lead, but Nigeria’s defence held firm, preserving the draw.

Nigeria’s qualification for TotalEnergies CAF AFCON marks a relief for fans and sets the stage for their preparations for the tournament. Benin, meanwhile, remains in contention but will need positive results in their final game to have any chance of progressing.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has suspended, with immediate effect, the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Agency, Shehu Hadi Ahmad, indefinitely.

This was made known in a statement by the Senior Special Adviser to the Minister of Public Communication and Social Media, Olalere Olayinka, on Thursday.

Circumstances leading to or surrounding the suspension of the secretary were, however, undisclosed as of the time of filing this report.

According to the statement, the suspended Executive Secretary has been consequently directed to hand over to the Director of Engineering Services in the FCDA.

The Federal Government on Thursday approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework for 2025 – 2027 and Fiscal Strategy Paper.

According to the MTEF, the proposed 2025 budget size is N47.9tn, with new borrowings of N9.22tn, the Minister of the Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, told State House Correspondents after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting at Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Bagudu announced, “The Federal Executive Council approved a memorandum by the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, which was presented by the Director-General of the Budget Office [Mr Tanimu Yakubu] on the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for 2025 – 2027.”

The disclosure comes after weeks of delay as President Bola Tinubu prepares to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly, his second since assuming office in May 2023.

The MTEF, a critical tool the FG uses to outline its fiscal strategy over three years, establishes macroeconomic assumptions and targets that guide national budgeting. It also includes projections of key economic variables such as oil prices, exchange rates, inflation, and growth rates.

For the 2025-2027 period, the MTEF sets out parameters, including an oil price benchmark of $75 per barrel, an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day, an exchange rate of N1,400 to the US dollar, and a GDP growth rate of 4.6 per cent.

The FG’s projected aggregate expenditure for 2025 is N47.9tn, with planned borrowing of N13.8tn, equating to 3.87 per cent of GDP.

The minister explained, “For the 2025-2027 period, the MTEF sets out parameters including an oil price benchmark of $75 per barrel for 2025, oil production of 2.06 million barrels a day, as well as an exchange rate of N1400 to the dollar and GDP growth of 4.6 per cent.

“It is expected that for 2025, the Federal Government’s budget estimate, the aggregate expenditure is estimated at N47tn, and this includes a borrowing of N13.8tn, which is 3.87 per cent of the estimated GDP.

“The budget size that was approved for presentation to the National Assembly in the MTEF is N47.9tn with new borrowings of N9.22tn to finance the budget deficit in 2025 as well as noting that we need to sustain the commendable market deregulation of petroleum prices and exchange rate, and to compel the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited to lower its oil and gas production cost significantly, and even to consider the need to amend the relevant sections of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 to address the significant risk to Federation.”

“The figures were only for 2025, even though there are projections for 2026 and 2027 in the document, which have different figures for the oil price benchmark for the two years,” he added.

Bagudu said Thursday’s memorandum sought the council’s endorsement of the MTEF for submission to the National Assembly, a requirement under the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

The MTEF begins with a macroeconomic overview. It notes that despite global economic challenges, the Nigerian economy is on a positive trajectory, showing two consecutive quarters of growth, with a 3.19 per cent increase in real terms in the second quarter of 2024, the budget minister explained.

However, he acknowledged the need to combat inflation, strengthen economic resilience, support vulnerable populations, bolster high-employment sectors, improve the business climate, and effectively implement youth and social investment programmes.

He revealed that the framework, alongside the FSP, also includes a review of the 2024 budget implementation, highlighting progress in revenue collection and expenditure management, though some targets have fallen short. The report also shows that non-oil revenue streams outperform expectations, Bagudu said.

On the 2024 budget performance, he said, “Actual spending as of August 2024 ending was N16.98tn as against the prorated spending target of N23.37tn at the end.

“Of this amount, N7.41tn was for debt service, and N3.7tn for personnel costs including pension. Further, N3.65tn has been released for capital projects. Most of the delays for capital project release have been earlier legacy issues, in the sense that the new procedure for upload requires a lot of capacity building and delayed uploads.”

N28.75tn was earmarked for the 2024 budget. However, it grew to N35.6tn after amendments by the National Assembly added N6.2tn to the pile.

Responding to queries from journalists, the budget minister said the MTEF would reach the National Assembly on Monday, November 18.

“We are submitting it, I believe, tomorrow [Friday] or, at the latest, on Monday. The office of Mr President will forward the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper to the National Assembly,” he stated.

The minister also argued that despite the late approval for the MTEF, the FG will maintain the January-December budget implementation cycle.

He affirmed, “We are confident because we have built a respectable relationship with the National Assembly. We have narrowed the areas of misunderstanding. And because of that mutual respect, Mr President is very transparent with the National Assembly leadership. And the National Assembly appreciates that openness.

“He [President] has instructed all his teams to ensure we cooperate with the National Assembly. For instance, the team led by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy has been mandated not only to wait but also to engage the National Assembly and answer all questions at the committee hearings.

“So, I’m confident because of this combination of factors. With this cooperation, I believe we’ll see an expeditious consideration, and immediately we are aware of the approval, we will finalise the budget because the MTEF precedes the budget preparation.”

Credit: PUNCH