President Bola Tinubu has sent a bill to the House of Representatives seeking approval for a consolidated 2025 federal budget.
The bill, titled the Appropriation (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024, was read on the floor of the House during plenary by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu.
In the letter, the President explained that the proposed law is aimed at ending the practice of running multiple federal budgets at the same time, while strengthening fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability in public finance management.
The bill seeks authorisation to withdraw a total of ₦43.56 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation for the year ending December 31, 2025.
The proposed spending includes ₦1.74 trillion for statutory transfers, ₦8.27 trillion for debt servicing, ₦11.27 trillion for recurrent non-debt expenditure, and ₦22.28 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contributions.
President Tinubu said the bill is meant to consolidate urgent and time-sensitive spending already carried out in response to emergencies affecting national security and the general well-being of Nigerians.
He also noted that the legislation is designed to tighten budget implementation by ensuring that funds are released and used strictly for approved purposes.
It requires National Assembly approval for any virement, allows corrections where genuine errors occur, and restricts the use of excess revenue without legislative consent.
The bill further mandates due process compliance and regular reporting on fund releases and revenues generated by government agencies.
Following its presentation, lawmakers passed the bill for first and second readings and referred it to the House Committee on Appropriation for further consideration.
(Editor: Ada Ononye)
