By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
Yesterday, the Senate passed the N49.7trn 2025 budget for a second reading, which was barely 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu laid the estimates before the joint session of the National Assembly.
Senators debated the money bill in a two-hour session, presided over by the Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, and partly by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin.
No fewer than 43 senators contributed to the debate on the general principles of the estimates.
None disagreed with Tinubu, whom they commended for the budget’s parameters and sectoral allocations.
Most senators commended the Tinubu administration for the N4.9tn the President allocated to defence and security, saying that this was a sign that Tinubu identified insecurity as the top challenge to Nigeria’s peace.
Deputy President of the Senate, JibrinBarau, said, “Peace is sine qua non for a sound economy, for a sound and up-and-doing society. And we all know the problems we are facing in terms of insecurity.
“Now, the government has taken steps to deal with it frontally. This is why defence and security got the highest allocation of N4.91trn. It shows the readiness of the government to deal with the problem of insecurity once and for all.
“What do you need after tackling insecurity? For a country that creates that environment of peace, what goes next is, of course, creating a developing environment for the economy to thrive and for business – the private sector to thrive.”
He also cited the allocation of N3.5trn to human capital development as a bold move to stimulate productive activities.
Aligning with Jibrin’s position, Senator Abba Moro told the session that as long as the budget was judiciously implemented, Nigeria would be better off in the coming years, comparing it to how poorly the 2024 budget was executed.
However, Moro, a lawmaker from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), called for increased education funding from Nigeria to meet the 26 percent requirement set by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
He said, “Nigeria hasn’t been able to meet the UNESCO recommendation. Hence, we need to review upward the allocation to education. Our inflation rate of 34% is also on the high side, despite the government’s effort to bring it down.”
Moro equally held the view that the exchange rate set at N1,500/1USD was not sustainable, paired against the current market rate of an1,700, advising the government to work harder on strengthening the local currency.
On his part, Monguno observed that tackling insecurity with N4.9tn was commendable, especially since improved security would allow people to “engage in meaningful economic activity, including agriculture.”
He expressed the same hope on the N4.6trn earmarked for infrastructure, which Monguno said would have a multiplier effect on the economy by generating employment.
However, like other speakers, Monguno, an All Progressives Congress (APC) senator from Borno State, called for better budget performance in 2025.
He said the 30- 35 percent implementation recorded this year is abysmal, adding, “There is a need for the executive arm, particularly the Ministry of Finance, to review the bottom-to-top approach to budget implementation.
“The budget, no matter how beautifully laid, if the implementation is not done, nothing has been achieved,” he told his colleagues.
While applauding key provisions in the budget, Senator Victor Umeh complained bitterly about the omission of the Eastern Rail Line, which runs from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.
“Mr President offered free train rides to Nigerians this Christmas. But how will the Nigerians on the eastern line benefit when there is no service there?” Umeh asked.
Senator Henry Dickson raised a similar concern, pointing out that no provision was made for the South-South Development Commission in the budget. However, he acknowledged that Tinubu had yet to sign the bill, making the Commission law.
The N49.7trn budget has a revenue projection of N34.820tn, an expenditure of N47.960trn, and a deficit of N13trn.
Its framework projects a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 4.6%, a crude oil price of $75 per barrel, an exchange rate of N1,400 to $1 ultimately, and oil production of 2.06 million barrels per day.
Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, commended the federal government for surpassing its projected revenue for 2024.
Abiru said projections in the 2025 budget are achievable, including the production of oil prices.
“The ability to stabilise the naira is also not in doubt. With the government’s plans, it will help tackle the inflation rate,” he added.
Abdul Ningi, Bauchi Central Senator urged his colleagues to prioritise the interest of Nigerians when passing the budget.
“I received yesterday’s budget with very cautious optimism. The talking point now is not talking about what the government brought but what we can do as the parliament.
“The President has done his part, but the ball is in our court. How do our people feel? What is their economic situation? What about hunger? These are things that we should ask as a parliament. The President must pay a lot of attention to insecurity.
We should ensure that the 2025 budget is highly performed. We should ensure that our people have a better life.”
Osun East Senator Francis Fadahunsi said the proposed budget amount for defence is not enough to fight insecurity.
Fadahunsi criticised the exchange rate and said many budget projections are not achievable.
“There is going to be a lot of magic next year in the parliament to support the executive in achieving all these goodies,” the senator added.
Abia North Senator Orji Kalu said the government needs to pay more attention to manufacturers and support the Bank of Industry for productivity.
Adamawa Central Senator Aminu Abbas said the proposed defence budget would provide the Nigerian military with adequate funds to acquire security equipment.
“With the provision for defence, the military needs to get adequate security equipment,” he said.
The senator advised the President to focus on funding for research in subsequent budgets.
Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele led the debate on the general principles of the 2025 appropriation bill.
In his lead debate, Bamidele, the senator representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, said the budget proposal demonstrated Tinubu’s commitment to stabilizing the economy, improving lives, and repositioning our country for greater performance.
He said the budget proposal was significantly increased by 74.18 percent from the previous year’s budget and that the increase would address infrastructural decay and developmental challenges in the country.
He said, “The 2025 budget has seen a significant increase of 74.18 percent, reaching N47.9trn in nominal terms, signaling a bold fiscal strategy to address persistent infrastructure gaps and development challenges.
“However, in dollar terms, the budget contracted by 23.22 percent, dropping from $36.7bn in 2024 to $28.18bn in 2025. This reduction in real value limits the potential impact of the budget on economic growth and the population’s wellbeing,” he said.
Bamidele emphasised that the budget proposal indicated the government’s direction in ensuring a peaceful and secure environment.
The senator noted that when the budget starts implementation next year, the inflation rate will drop from 34.6 percent to 15 percent, and the exchange rate will improve from N1,700 to a dollar to N1,400 to a dollar.
He projected that petroleum product imports would decrease alongside increased exports of finished petroleum products.
Bamidele also projected bumper harvests, increased foreign exchange inflows through foreign portfolio investments, higher crude oil output and exports, and substantially reduced upstream oil and gas production costs.
He argued that the 2025 budget will “consolidate the key policies instituted to restructure our economy, boost human capital development, increase the volume of trade and investments, bolster oil and gas production, get our manufacturing sector humming again, and ultimately increase the competitiveness of our economy.”
He, therefore, urged his colleagues to support the passage of the 2025 budget proposal.
Akpabio subsequently approved the budget for a second reading and referred it to the Committee on Appropriations.
He directed the committee to report back to the Senate within four weeks.
The National Assembly subsequently adjourned plenary to January 14.
