National Assembly Begins Deliberations On N49trillion 2025 Budget, Sets January 31 Deadline

The Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives will on Tuesday begin deliberations on the 2025 budget proposal of N49.7trillion at the committee level.

The Senate announced plans to suspend the plenary for two weeks upon resumption on January 14, with January 31 tentatively set for laying the Appropriation Bill before both chambers.

An “Open Day” for budget discussions, inviting input from stakeholders and heads of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs), is scheduled for Thursday this week.

Speaking in Abuja during a meeting with chairmen of standing committees, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, acknowledged the tight timeline but emphasised the importance of thorough scrutiny.

Present at the meeting were several Senate committee chairpersons and principal officers, including Deputy Leader, Senator Lola Ashiru and Senate Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno.

The Senator explained that before meeting with the chairmen of various Senate standing committees, the Appropriation Committee held an extensive session to determine the best approach for reviewing the 2025 budget.

President Bola Tinubu had presented the budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, and it passed second reading in both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday, December 19, 2024.

“To ensure a thorough and efficient review process, hard copies of the budget proposals were distributed to the chairmen of the committees. These documents will serve as essential references during the budget defense sessions with the heads of ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) under their purview,” he said.

He added that the tentative schedule for committee-level review includes the start of budget defense sessions today, with committee reports expected to be submitted between December 15 and 18.

Afterward, the Appropriation Committee will collate and finalise the reports, aiming to present the final budget report to the Senate on December 31.

“The December 31 date for submitting the budget report is tentative and serves as a working guide,” he added.