President Bola Tinubu presented the budget of N49.7 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The 2025 proposed budget is over 20 per cent smaller than the 2024 budget in real terms, a senator told his colleagues during a debate on the budget.
While the proposed budget in naira is higher than that of 2024, in dollar terms, which signifies its real value, the budget is smaller.
"...in dollar terms, the budget contracted by 23.22 per cent, dropping from $36.7 billion in 2024 to $28.18 billion in 2025," Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said.
The budget eventually passed a second reading at the Senate.
The senators voted to pass the 2025 budget after debating its general principles during plenary on Thursday.
The appropriation bill seeks to authorise the issuance of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation of N49.7 billion (N49,740,165,355,396) for the 2025 fiscal year.
President Bola Tinubu presented the N49.7 trillion budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The budget, christened "Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity," was subsequently read on the Senate floor for the first time on the same day.
The debate
During Thursday's plenary, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, led the debate on the bill's general principles.In the lead debate, Mr Bamidele, the senator for Ekiti Central Senatorial District, said the budget proposal demonstrated Mr Tinubu's commitment to stabilising the economy, improving lives, and repositioning our country for greater performance.
He said the budget proposal experienced a significant increase of 74.18 per cent from the previous year's budget and that the rise would address infrastructural decay and developmental challenges in the country.
"The 2025 budget has seen a significant increase of 74.18 per cent, reaching N47.9 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 per cent, 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 said.
Securing peace and rebuilding prosperity
Mr Bamidele emphasised that the budget proposal indicated the government's direction in ensuring a peaceful and secure environment.
The senator projected that when the budget implementation starts next year, the inflation rate will drop from 34.6 per cent to 15 per cent, and the exchange rate will improve from N1,700 to a dollar to N1,400 to a dollar.
He said that the importation of petroleum products would be reduced, and the export of finished petroleum products would be increased.
Mr Bamidele also projected bumper harvests, increased foreign exchange inflows through Foreign Portfolio Investments, higher crude oil output and exports, and a substantial reduction in 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 budget.
Debate
In his contribution, the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, commended the president for his political will in bringing prosperity to the country.
Mr Jibrin, who represents Kano North Senatorial District, noted that the budget demonstrated the government's intention to fight insecurity.
"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 N4.91 trillion. It shows the readiness of the government to deal with the problem of insecurity once and for all," he said.
Mr Jibrin maintained that when the country is secured, investors will be encouraged to establish in it.
"What do you need after tackling insecurity? For a country that creates that environment of peace, what goes next is, of course, making a developing environment for the economy to thrive and for business - the private sector - to thrive.
"And how do you do that? It's by providing the necessary infrastructure. All the necessary infrastructures needed to be put in place, such as good roads, water, and power supply infrastructure."
Asuquo Ekpenyong, the senator for Cross River South, commended President Tinubu for the budget presentation.
Mr Ekpeyong said the positive review of Nigeria's economy has increased since Mr Tinubu became president.
"His review of 18 months of stewardship over the economy shows an improvement," he added.
The senator also commended the government for its achievements in foreign exchange reserves.
"Foreign exchange reserves have increased 42 billion dollars from almost a negative inheritance. Surpluses of 5.8 trillion and we see economic growth in the country is at 3.4 shooting past the project to figure of 3.2 per cent."
He demanded that the South-south Development Commission be included in the budget provision.
"For statutory transfers of the budget, there is no allocation for South-south. We can see that of the South-west Development Commission," he added.
Kwara North Senator Sadiq Umar said the budget is targeted at securing and restoring peace to the country.
The senator for Lagos East Senatorial District, Adetokunbo Abiru, commended the federal government for surpassing its projected revenue for 2024.
Mr Abiru said the projections in the 2025 budget are achievable, including oil production and prices.
"The ability to stabilise the naira is also not in doubt. With the plans of the government, it will help tackle the inflation rate," he added.
Abdul Ningi, the Bauchi Central Senator, urged his colleagues to prioritise Nigerian interests 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. It is important that the president pays a lot of attention to insecurity.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"We should ensure that there is high performance of the 2025 budget. We should ensure that our people have a better life," Mr Ningi said.
Osun East Senator Francis Fadahunsi said the proposed amount for defence in the budget is insufficient to fight insecurity.
Mr Fadahunsi criticised the exchange rate and said many budget projections are impossible.
"There is going to be a lot of magic next year in the parliament to support the executive to achieve 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 with the proposed amount for defence in the budget, the Nigerian military will get 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.
Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central) questioned the government's inflation projections for the budget.
"I was wondering how N1,500 to a dollar will bring down inflation, which is already at30 per cent," he said.
After the debate on its general principles, the budget was read for the second time.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, then referred it to the committee on appropriation for further legislative action.
Mr Akpabio asked the committee to report to the Senate in four weeks.
