In what seemed like a moment of comic relief during the serious proceedings of the budget presentation on Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu humorously referred to a joint session of the 10th National Assembly as the 11th National Assembly.
Titled the ‘Budget of Restoration,’ the President unveiled his second budget proposal, amounting to N47.9 trillion, before members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Tinubu began his 30-minute address at 12:40 pm, greeted by cheers from lawmakers, many of whom belong to his All Progressives Congress (APC). His presentation followed a speech by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
“In fulfilment to one of my constitutional duties and unyielding commitment to rebuilding Nigeria towards ensuring that we remain steadfast on the journey to a prosperous future, I hereby present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the 11th National Assembly,” Tinubu said in his opening statement.
The joint session of the National Assembly exploded in a fit of laughter and cheers, with many making attempts to tell the President the current National Assembly is the 10th and not the 11th.
Sensing the ripples of sensation his pronouncement had caused, Tinubu said, “10?”, attracting an affirmation from the lawmakers. “I wrote 11 which means you are all re-elected,” the President wittily.
In his presentation, the President listed some of the highlights of the budget as defence and security – N4.91tn, infrastructure – N4.06tn, health – N2.4tn, education – N3.5tn, among others.
He said, “The 2025 budget seeks to restore macro-economic stability enhance the business environment, foster inclusive growth, employment and poverty reduction, promote equitable income distribution and human capital development,” Tinubu said.
“In 2025, we are targeting N34.8tn in revenue to fund the budget. government expenditure in the same year is projected to be N47.90tn including N15.81tn for debt servicing.
“A total of N13.0tn or 3.89% of GDP will make up the budget deficit. This is an ambitious but necessary budget to secure our future.
“The budget projects inflation will decline from the current rate of 34.6% to 15% next year (2025) while the exchange rate will improve from approximately N1,700 per dollar to N1,500 per dollar.”
The President set the crude oil production target at 2.06 million barrels per day for 2025. He also projected a decrease in the importation of finished petroleum products, along with an increase in the exportation of refined petroleum products during the same year.