President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has requested the National Assembly to consider and pass the Appropriation (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2024–2025, proposing a total expenditure of ₦43.56 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.
The request was conveyed in separate letters to the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The Senate letter was read at plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, while the House communication was read by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu.
In the letters, the President said the bill seeks authorisation for the withdrawal of ₦43.56 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation for the year ending December 31, 2025. The proposed spending covers statutory transfers, debt servicing, recurrent non-debt expenditure and capital projects.
Tinubu explained that the proposed legislation is designed to end Nigeria’s long-standing practice of running multiple budgets concurrently, which he said has weakened fiscal discipline and affected capital budget performance. He added that the bill aims to ensure improved implementation of both the 2024 and 2025 capital budgets.
The President further noted that the bill strengthens accountability by requiring that appropriated funds are released and applied strictly for approved purposes, limiting virement without legislative approval and enhancing oversight of excess revenue and emergency spending.
In the Senate, Akpabio said the President’s request had been referred to the Senate Secretariat to initiate the necessary legislative processes.
In the House of Representatives, the bill was taken as First Reading and referred to the House Committee on Appropriations for further consideration. The move, however, drew objections from some lawmakers who insisted that copies of the bill and the President’s letter should be circulated to members before advancing the legislative process.
Despite the objections, the Deputy Speaker ruled that the bill be referred to the Appropriations Committee, urging members to engage the issues during subsequent legislative stages.
Tinubu urged both chambers to give the bill expedited consideration, describing it as critical to streamlining public finance management, improving capital project execution and aligning budget implementation with fiscal realities.
