From Ndubuisi Orji and Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate and the House of Representatives, yesterday, passed for second reading, the 2025 budget proposal presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday.
This followed the debate on the 2025 budget at plenary with most lawmakers focusing on the need to improve security, grow the economy and ensure proper implementation of the money bill to make it effective.
At the Senate, leading debate on the general principles of the bill, which seeks to authorise the issuance of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation to the tune of N49.7 billion, Bamidele Michael Opeyemi (Ekiti Central), said it “strikes at the very core of the Renewed Hope Agenda and demonstrates the current administration’s commitment to stabilising the economy, improving lives, and repositioning our country for greater performance.”
He added that the budget proposal had seen a significant increase of 74.18 percent, reaching N49.7 trillion in nominal terms, signalling a bold fiscal strategy aimed at addressing persistent infrastructure gaps and development challenges.
However, in dollar terms, the budget contracted by 23.22 percent, dropping from $36.7 billion in 2024 to $28.18 billion in 2025. This reduction, in real value, limits the potential impact of the budget on economic growth and the well-being of the population.
He expressed optimism that all the proposals in the 2025 appropriation bill were laudable and would enhance the critical needs of the citizens of Nigeria, while urging his colleagues to approve the second reading and consideration by the Appropriation Committee and its sub-committees.
In their respective arguments, other senators argued that without the improvement of security across the country, the President’s priority plan to grow the economy, improve education and develop agriculture would not be attained.
•Kalu urges stimulus for BoI, others
In his submission, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, posited that the manufacturing sector must be boosted with more money to stimulate its performance. He further said more money must be put into the Bank of Industry and other development institutions to revitalise them.
He stated: “In commenting on the 2025 budget, I would like to align myself with my colleagues to commend the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for considering defence as an important area. If we do not keep ourselves safe, I don’t see how we can even do anything in Nigeria. For making defence and security a top priority, it means we will do a lot to go back to agriculture, but once we go back to agriculture, I will like to see where this budget will address some issues and put stimulus into banks, like the Bank of Agriculture, the Bank of Industry, so that we can put back stimulus into the economy. If the economy is not stimulated, what we are talking about bringing the dollar lower, is not going to happen because doing more in agriculture where export production must be key, is what we are going to be looking at in 2015.
“So, I’m appealing to you, Mr. Senate President, to redirect some issues that will give back to the economy, like providing stimulus to the Bank of Industry and other agencies.”
•Jibrin advocates strict oversight
The Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, charged relevant committees of the Senate to ensure they exercise thorough oversight on the 2025 budget in order to make it perform optimally.
“For us here, we need to oversight properly. All our relevant committees should work to make sure that when this budget is passed, we keep all those responsible for the implementation of whatever is in this budget on their toes, so that they work in the best manner possible to actualise what is in this budget, which happens to be one of the best budgets we have produced in this country.
“But now, what we need to do after the passage is for all of us to come around to make sure that we do everything that is humanly possible to ensure that it’s fully implemented. I’m sure by the time we implement this budget, this country will turn into a land of El Dorado, a land of plenty and prosperity.”
He commended Mr. President over what he described as his political will to bring prosperity to Nigeria, saying a leader should have the political will and the resolve to turn things around for the betterment of the country.
According to him, “the budget proposal demonstrates the intention of the government in this regard. That’s why the budget is christened, ‘Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity.’
“Peace is a sine qua non for a sound economy, 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 N4.91 trillion. 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, particularly the private sector, to thrive.
“And how do you do that? It’s by providing the necessary infrastructure. All the necessary infrastructure needed to be put in place, such as good roads, water, and power supply infrastructure.
“So now, when you do that, you allow the real sector and other sectors of the economy to begin to operate, jobs will be created, revenues will come into various entities, and, of course, taxes will be paid, and the government will have more revenues. Those revenues will be channelled towards funding social services, and so on.
“Then, of course, the next thing is the human capital resources. Human capital is the key and the number one production factor globally. Now, the government has decided to allocate N3.52 trillion. So, you can see the government is systematic in its way, the way it has designed to deal with our problems.
“And, of course, the health sector is next. If you want your human capital to be up and running, you should provide health services so that they can be taken care of. Otherwise, your human resources and human capital will become nothing if they are not given the necessary health support.
“Mr. President, this budget has a lot of goodies when we all work together and support the executive arm of government because it’s not an issue about our government alone. It’s an all-inclusive arrangement. We should all be part of the whole thing. The citizens should also be part of it.”
•Ekong, Adefadausi take positions
In his debate, Samson Ekong (Akwa Ibom South) noted that the budget paid attention to major flanks of defence, infrastructure and agriculture. He emphasised that while the list was commendable, the most important to ensure strict implementation of the defence budget as providing security would determine how well agriculture and other sectors would thrive.
“We cannot sleep when our space is not safe, when our borders are insecure. The implementation of this budget will make all the difference.”
Similarly, Francis Adefadausi (Osun East) noted that if insecurity is not tackled properly, the 24 percent of the proposed budget given to the defence sector would not yield results. He equally noted that agriculture would also improve if insecurity is tackled.
In the same vein, Diket Plang (Plateau Central) noted that without security, all items listed will not work, but with security in place, agriculture will enjoy a bumper harvest.
Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) called attention to the exclusion of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Railway Line, which is the Eastern line in the budget. “It appears that it has been overlooked again.” He urged the Senate to intervene by including it during the consideration of the budget.
The exclusion of the South South Development Commission was also raised as a concern by some lawmakers, in addition to the fiscal projections. One of such lawmakers, Sadie Usman (Kwara North) called for caution in the government’s spending, so it does not escalate information. He was supported by Ndubueze Patrick (Imo North), who urged the government to allow market mechanisms determine the Naira/Dollar exchange rate instead of pegging it at N1500 in the budget proposal.
•House seeks upward review
In the House of Representatives, lawmakers, while debating the general principles, expressed mixed feelings over the budget proposal. While some hailed the budget as the antidote to the country’s problems, others called for cautious optimism.
Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, stated that the allocation to the security sector will help to address the security challenges, which will in return herald peace and development in the country.
“I’m particularly excited at the sectoral allocations. Security N4.91 billion. We all know the problem we are facing in the nation. If we are able to get security right, there would be peace. There would be development. And things will move forward.”
Abdussamad Dasuki called for upward review of the budget estimates. “The budget may look robust on paper but if you convert it to dollars, you will realise that the budget is not where we should be. With the challenges we have, if you convert it to dollars, the nation will be inadequately provided for. I urge the relevant Committees particularly the Committee on Finance to work on this. More allocation is needed for the North-West Development Commission. We should ask ourselves the parameters used in arriving at this allocation.”
The Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda faulted the indices for the budget and described the appropriation bill as too ambitious.
“There is no doubt that our president was optimistic in the 2025 Appropriation presentation. I also agree with those who have contributed that if the budget is implemented the way it is presented, it will portend something good for our country.
“But then, we should not lose sight of the fact that this is a projection. So, the major question to ask is whether these projections are realisable…we must look at indices that are on ground
“As laudable as the budget may appear, it also appears that the indices are not completely correct. So, it is not Uhuru yet for us as a country. If we fake the specifics, which everybody has talked about here, some dancing over it that we expect a reduction from inflation rate from 36.9 to 15 percent, that is too ambitious. I don’t see how we can achieve that.
“Even when we achieve the issue of security in 2025, does it follow that immediately we will also achieve food security? The answer is no.
If we achieve security in 2025, we expect fundamental improvement in food security the following year…In achieving revenue targets, let’s not over tax our people. The budget deficit is another source of worry. The budget deficit is still high.”
•Reps move to delist NECO, UI, 21 MDAs
Meanwhile, the House has recommended the delisting of National Examinations Council (NECO), University of Ibadan and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment from the 2025 budget.
Others affected are 21 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) for their alleged repeated failure to account for previous budgetary allocations and internally-generated revenue.
The resolution was reached during an extra-ordinary sitting of the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee in Abuja.
The decision, according to the chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, followed the persistent non-compliance of the MDAs with the committee’s summons, aimed at scrutinising their financial operations.
Among agencies recommended for delisting are hospitals, universities and development agencies.
Salam said the delisting recommendation was sequel to multiple invitations sent to the agencies over the past several months.
He added that the agencies failed to attend the scheduled hearings or provide the necessary documentation requested by the committee.
Other affected MDAs included the Federal Medical Centre, Bida; Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment; Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, and the Nigeria Police Force.
Also involved were the Department of Information and Communication Technology, Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba; Federal College of Education, Yola, and Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, among others.
“The Financial Regulation empowers the National Assembly to exclude any ministry, department or agency (MDA) that fails to account for their previous appropriations.
“As such, the listed MDAs should be excluded from the 2025 budget until they appear before this constitutional committee,” Salam said.
The committee unanimously recommended that the 24 MDAs should be excluded from the 2025 budget until they appear and provide the necessary clarifications.
•Adjournment
Following the conclusion of debate on the bill, it was passed for a second reading and referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriation for further legislative action in both chambers.
The parliament adjourned plenary for the Christmas and New Year holidays. The lawmakers will reconvene on January 14, 2025.