- The Senate approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to secure an additional ₦1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to address funding shortfalls in the 2025 national budget.
- This latest adjustment will increase the total approved spending plan to 59.99 trillion pounds and push the overall budget deficit in 2025 to 14.10 trillion pounds.
- The approval was obtained following review by the Senate Local and Foreign Debt Committees.
Nigeria’s Senate approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow an additional 1.15 trillion pounds from the domestic debt market. The borrowing is intended to cover the remaining deficit in the 2025 state budget.
The approval came at a plenary session on Wednesday, following the approval of a report by the Senate Local and Foreign Debt Committee.
The committee reported that the 2025 appropriations bill currently stands at ₦ 59.99 trillion, a significant increase of ₦ 5.25 trillion from the original proposal of ₦ 54.74 trillion. This increase brings the total budget deficit to ₦ 14.10 trillion.
President Tinubu sought the approval of the National Assembly for additional borrowing in a letter dated November 4, which was read out by Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The funds will be raised from domestic debt markets to “fill funding gaps and sustain the delivery of key government programs and projects,” the letter states.
In a related action, the Senate passed a motion urging the Appropriations Committee “Strengthen supervision to ensure that all borrowed funds in fiscal year 2025 are strictly used for their intended purposes.”
