The Nigerian Senate has granted President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to finance the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.
The approval followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during Wednesday’s plenary.
The committee noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act sets total expenditures at N59.99 trillion, marking a N5.25 trillion increase over the N54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive.
The expansion created a total budget deficit of N14.10 trillion. Of this, N12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded deficit of approximately N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).
In a related development, a motion by Senator Abdul Ningi was adopted, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to intensify its oversight to ensure that the borrowed funds are properly implemented in the 2025 fiscal year and used strictly for their intended purposes.
Recall that President Tinubu had on November 4th requested the approval of the National Assembly for a fresh N1.15 trillion borrowing from the domestic debt market to help finance the deficit in the 2025 budget.
The President’s request was conveyed in a letter. According to the letter, the proposed borrowing is intended to bridge the funding gap and ensure full implementation of government programs and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.