The Nigerian Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to fund the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.
The approval came following the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during Wednesday’s plenary session.
The committee noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act projects total expenditure of N59.99 trillion, an increase of N5.25 trillion over the N54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive.
This revision created a budget deficit of N14.10 trillion, of which N12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded gap of approximately N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).
In a related move, a motion by Senator Abdul Ningi was adopted, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to intensify oversight and ensure that the borrowed funds are strictly used for their intended purposes during the 2025 fiscal year.
President Tinubu had formally requested the fresh N1.15 trillion borrowing on November 4, stating in a letter to the National Assembly that the funds are needed to bridge the funding gap and guarantee full implementation of government programs and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.
