Senate amends, passes N54.4tn 2025 budget

…reduces allocations for presidency, education, others

The Senate has amended the recently passed N54.4 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill, making key adjustments to the allocation of funds between recurrent and capital expenditures.

The amendment, which was passed through a motion moved by Solomon Adeola, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, saw a reallocation of N500 billion from capital to recurrent expenditure.

According to the revised budget, the total appropriation remains N54.99 trillion, with statutory transfers at N3.64 trillion and debt service at N14.31 trillion.

However, recurrent (non-debt) expenditure increased from N13.06 trillion to N13.58 trillion, while capital expenditure was reduced from N23.96 trillion to N23.43 trillion.

Citing Orders 1(B) and 52(6) of the Senate Standing Orders (2023, as amended), the Senate resolved to rescind its earlier decision on the affected line items, revising and recommitting the bill to the Committee of Supply for reconsideration and final passage.

Some of the key adjustments in the budget include a reduction in the allocation for the Ministry of Defence from N2.51 trillion to N2.49 trillion, while the Ministry of Police Affairs was adjusted from N1.225 trillion to N1.224 trillion.

The total allocation for pensions, gratuity, and retirement benefits saw an increase from N950 billion to N1.44 trillion.

Military pensions and gratuities were also raised from N252.6 billion to N383.9 billion, while the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) allocation increased from N529.4 billion to N804.7 billion.

Similarly, capital allocations to some ministries were revised, leading to budget reductions for key sectors.

The budget for the Presidency was cut from N144.4 billion to N142.7 billion, while the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security saw its allocation reduced from N1.95 trillion to N1.83 trillion.

The budget for the Federal Ministry of Works was adjusted from N2.04 trillion to N2 trillion, and the allocation for the Federal Ministry of Education was reduced from N953.9 billion to N944.6 billion.

These corrections resulted in an overall increase in recurrent (non-debt) expenditure to N13.58 trillion, while capital expenditure was lowered to N23.43 trillion.

The Senate’s revision of the budget reflects adjustments to funding priorities for key sectors while ensuring that overall expenditure remains within the approved framework.