FEC finalizes 2025 budget ahead of Tinubu’s presentation

The Federal Government approved the 2025 budget proposal on Monday, following the Senate’s endorsement of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025–2027 on November 22.

According to Punch Online, President Bola Tinubu is now set to present the proposed N47.96 trillion budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

Initially scheduled for Tuesday, the presentation was postponed to allow the executive arm to finalize key adjustments to the budget.

Confirming the development on Monday, a senior official from the National Assembly, along with the Minister of State for Agriculture, Sabi Abdullahi, corroborated the delay.

Addressing journalists from the Senate Press Corps, Abdullahi stated, “The budget presentation has been moved from Tuesday to Wednesday. The executive needs to make a few final adjustments.”

Senate President Godswill Akpabio had previously announced during a plenary session that President Tinubu would present the budget on Tuesday at the House of Representatives chamber. He added that plenary would begin at 10:30 a.m., allowing senators to assemble in the Red Chamber before proceeding in procession to the House chamber for the presentation.

The revised schedule reflects the importance of ensuring the proposed budget is fully refined before its formal submission to the legislature.

Following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, reiterated that the budget size remains N47.96 trillion, as outlined in the MTEF. He disclosed that new borrowings would amount to N9.22 trillion.

The council had approved the MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper on November 14, 2024. Serving as a critical planning tool, the MTEF outlines the Federal Government’s fiscal strategy over three years. It establishes macroeconomic assumptions and targets to guide national budgeting, including projections for key economic indicators such as oil prices, exchange rates, inflation, and GDP growth.

For the 2025–2027 period, the MTEF sets the following parameters:

• Oil price benchmark: $75 per barrel
• Oil production target: 2.06 million barrels per day
• Exchange rate: N1,400 to the US dollar
• GDP growth rate: 4.6%

The total projected expenditure for 2025 stands at N47.96 trillion, with a fiscal deficit of N13.13 trillion, representing 3.89% of GDP. Planned borrowings for 2025 are estimated at N13.8 trillion.

After the FEC meeting, Bagudu stated, “Today, the Federal Executive Council approved the 2025 budget proposal with amendments as directed by Mr. President. The framework is based on an oil price benchmark of $75 per barrel, oil production of 2.06 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N1,400 to the dollar. These projections are already reflected in the MTEF approved by the National Assembly.”

He further noted that the total projected revenue for 2025 is N34.82 trillion, marking a 36.8% increase from the 2024 estimate.

Bagudu explained that while the budget presentation has been delayed, it would not disrupt the January–December implementation cycle. The Senate’s earlier approval of the MTEF ensures clarity on the budget size and its assumptions, ensuring a seamless process.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, confirmed ongoing discussions between the Executive and the National Assembly. He revealed that these talks contributed to shifting the presentation to Wednesday, December 18.

Bagudu also referenced President Tinubu’s previous remarks during the 2024 budget presentation, where he emphasized the National Assembly’s oversight responsibilities. The President urged ministries, departments, and agencies to fully respect the legislative process, highlighting the importance of transparency and collaboration between the Executive and Legislature.

Bagudu concluded by noting that this strengthened relationship has bridged gaps, improved engagement, and fostered confidence 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.