….as capital gets ₦23.96 trn, debt servicing ₦14.31 trn
By Steven Atokolo
The National Assembly has passed the 2025 Appropriation Bill, approving a record-breaking budget of N54,990 trillion to finance government activities in this fiscal year.
Titled as “A Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation the sum N54,990,165,355,396 was approved after deliberations on its allocations and implications for economic growth, debt management, and infrastructure development.
At the House of Representatives, the bill was passed after a clause-by-clause consideration by the Committee of the Whole on Thursday.
Earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Rep. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar Bichi, presented the report plenary which was later considered by the Committee of the Whole and passed after the House reverted to plenary and a voice vote put by the Speaker, Abbas Tajuddeen.
In the Senate, Godswill Akpabio gave the breakdown of the 2025 budget to show that Statutory Transfers: ₦3.65 trillion, debt Servicing: ₦14.32 trillion, Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure: ₦13.06 trillion and Capital Expenditure: ₦23.96 trillion
The largest chunk of the budget, ₦23.96 trillion, was allocated for capital expenditure, aimed at infrastructure development, healthcare, education, and security.
This is a clear indication of government’s commitment to addressing Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit.
However, the ₦14.32 trillion earmarked for debt servicing highlights the country’s rising debt burden and an affront to long-term financial sustainability.
Speaking with journalists, Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriations, Solomon Olamilekan said President Tinubu took a proactive steps to ameliorate the United States Agency that President Donald Trump recently suspended any further donation to the health sector.
The US President’s action shows that patients, especially in Nigeria, who are beneficiary of these donor agencies, who are suffering from tuberculosis, from HIV, from polio, and also malaria, which donor agencies have been giving out all these drugs and everything, there will be no supplies.
He said Tinubu, in his “proactive step”, made available the sum of $200 million, which equivalents to around N300 billion for this particular purpose while the National Assembly made provisions for N750 billion to take of such funding gap.
Olamilekan said National Assembly took the proactive measure so that Nigeria will not be like Uganda and other African nations, who solely depend on these aid agencies that have been suspended and are now suffering from these actions of President Donald Trump.