17th December 2024
The Federal Government, on Monday, approved the 2025 budget proposal, following the Senate’s endorsement of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework 2025 – 2027 on November 22, 2024.
President Bola Tinubu will present the proposed N47.96tn budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday. The exercise, earlier slated for Tuesday (today), was postponed to allow the executive arm to make final adjustments to the budget.
A top management official of the National Assembly confirmed the postponement on Monday, which was further corroborated by the Minister of State for Agriculture, Sabi Abdullahi.
Speaking to Senate Press Corps journalists on Monday, Abdullahi said, “The budget presentation has been postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday. The executive just needs to make one or two adjustments to the budget.”
Previously, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had announced during a plenary session that the President would present the budget on Tuesday at the House of Representatives chamber.
Akpabio added that plenary would begin at 10:30am to allow senators convene in the Red Chamber before proceeding in a procession to the House chamber for the presentation.
The forthcoming budget presentation is expected to align with the fiscal strategies outlined in these documents.
The revised schedule underscores the importance of ensuring all necessary refinements are made to the budget before it is formally presented to the legislature.
The budget size remains N47.96tn as the MTEF proposed, with new borrowings of N9.22tn, the Minister of the Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, told journalists after the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The council approved the MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper on November 14, 2024. 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. Its projected aggregate expenditure for 2025 is N47.96tn, with planned borrowing of N13.8tn, equating to 3.87 per cent of GDP.
On Monday, Bagudu announced, “Today, the Federal Executive Council approved the budget proposals 2025 with amendments which Mr President directed following a presentation to the Federal Executive Council led by the Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu.
“The 2025 framework is based on an oil price benchmark of $75 per barrel. Oil production of 2.06 million barrels per day; exchange rate of N1,400 (to the dollar). All these are already included in the medium-term expenditure framework we have presented here, which has also been approved by the National Assembly.
“So, the total projected revenue for 2025 stands at N34.82tn, out of which the expenditure is projected at N47.96tn, an increase of 36.8 per cent from the 2024 estimate. The deficit for 2025 is projected at N13.13tn, representing 3.89 per cent of GDP.”
He explained that comments were taken from council members and the President directed “some consequential adjustments while approving the figures.”
The disclosure comes after weeks of delay, even as President Bola Tinubu is yet to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly. The President presented the 2024 budget on December 1, 2023.
Although Tinubu had, last week, informed the National Assembly of his intent to present the 2025 budget proposal on Tuesday, the council hinted at plans to shift the presentation to Wednesday, December 18.The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told State House Correspondents that the National Assembly and the Executive are currently engaged in discussions and may postpone the budget presentation.
“The Executive and the National Assembly are currently engaged in discussions which may culminate in the shifting of the budget presentation to the federal lawmakers to Wednesday,” he said.
While Bagudu earlier argued that the FG would maintain the January-December budget implementation cycle, he later explained that the late signing of the budget would not disrupt the cycle.
He said the process would be seamless given that the Senate has approved the MTEF, which clarifies the budget size and its underlying assumptions.
He further noted that during the presentation of the 2024 budget, the President urged the National Assembly to carry out their oversight responsibilities diligently and scrutinise all executive proposals. In his 2024 budget speech, the President also directed ministries, departments, agencies, and particularly ministers to respect the role of the National Assembly.
The former Kebbi State Governor said this dynamic has helped bridge gaps between the executive and legislative branches as continuous engagement builds confidence and ensures transparency in the budget’s implementation.
“That, I believe, has helped improve confidence between the executive and the legislature to the extent that Mister President is determined to present the budget within 48 hours.
“It may be tough, but given all those confidence-building measures, we can’t pre-judge the National Assembly. But we believe that the National Assembly will expeditiously consider, given the track record, confidence and appreciation of the relationship with the executive, particularly with Mr President.
“However, I need to say here that our constitution has always anticipated that even if a budget is not passed by December 31, the executive can continue to incur expenditure, operate and spend money. It’s one of the ingenuities of Nigeria’s Constitution. So, while we hope that the budget will be signed, spending will be impaired because the Constitution anticipates that it could be the case that the budget may not be passed before the end of the year,” Bagudu explained.
He insisted that the country can meet and surpass the 2.06 million barrels-per-day crude oil production target in the MTEF.
“Is it achievable? I think that’s very achievable because we have done it before. Our national planning considerations were that by this time, we should have more than 3 million (barrels per day). And if you recall, NNPC has reported significant findings even outside the traditional areas of production, such as Kolmani and Nasarawa state, among others.
“So this is not too ambitious, but Mr President accepted it and is going to hold people accountable for these numbers,” Bagudu clarified.
On the 2024 budget performance, he said, “The 2024 budget has a revenue estimate of N25.8tn as of September 30, 2024 revenue inflows amount to N14.55tn, 75 per cent of the pro-rated amount. I’m sure it’s higher now because, given that this is as of September 30, driven by a robust performance in the non-oil revenue stream and the courageous deregulation of the petroleum sector, so the nation is no longer bleeding.
“On the expenditure side, the 2024 budget forecasted an expenditure of N21tn, with N8.9tn allotted to debt service, N4.2tn on personnel and N5.86tn was released for capital expenditure, of which MDAs utilised 51 per cent for projects.”
Bagudu said budget performance on debt service is 100 per cent.
“We are not defaulting. Part of what Mr President, led by the coordinating minister of the economy, convinced the investing public and the creditors that we would never default on our obligations, including the challenging non-recourse to Ways and Means beyond the legal limits.
“Equally, the performance on personnel and pension is about 100 per cent and the capital performance is about 51 per cent,” the minister said.
#MemoriesNews