By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Finally, two weeks after, President Bola Tinubu has signed the N54.99 trillion 2025 appropriation bill into law, marking a 99.96 percent increase from the 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion.
The bill was approved by the national assembly on February 13, after revisions to Tinubu’s initial budget proposal of N49.7 trillion
The key breakdown of the 2025 budget includes a total expenditure of N54.99 trillion, statutory transfers of N3.65 trillion, and a recurrent (non-debt) expenditure of N13.64 trillion.
Other components are capital expenditure: (N23.96 trillion), debt servicing (N14.32 trillion) and a deficit-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 1.52 percent.
In his request to the national assembly on February 5 for the budget to be raised, Tinubu said the reason for the increase was due to the “additional revenue, sourced from key agencies”.
“This represents a pivotal opportunity to address Nigeria’s critical challenges and advance its development agenda: i. Government-Owned Enterprises (GOEs): N1.823.879 970.637, ii. Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS): N1,497,600 000.000. (Federal Government’s 52% share of the increase in revenue from N22.1 trillion to N25.1 trillion),” the president said.
“iii) Nigerian Customs Service (NCS): N1,209,000.000,000 (Federal Government’s 52% share of the increase in revenue from N6.5 trillion to N9.0 trillion).
“With this additional revenue, the 2025 appropriation bills total budget size will increase from N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion, demonstrating our commitment to inclusive growth and security.”
Last year, both chambers of the legislature approved the 2025-2027 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) and fiscal strategy paper (FSP) — parameters on which budgets are framed.
The parliament passed the oil benchmark prices of $75, $76.2, and $75.3 for the daily crude oil production of 2.06 million, 2.10 million, and 2.35 million for the 2025-2027 fiscal years respectively.
The national assembly projected the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate at 4.6 percent, 4.4 percent, and 5.5 percent for the three years in the fiscal strategy paper
The lawmakers also endorsed the projected exchange rate of N1,400/$ — but said it is subject to review in early 2025 according to monetary and fiscal policies.