Senate President Godswill Akpabio has revealed that the Committee on Appropriation may present its report on the 2025 budget for immediate consideration and passage by the Senate on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.
Akpabio made this announcement on Tuesday while presiding over the plenary, explaining that the majority of senators were engaged in finalizing the details of the N54.2 trillion budget estimates. As a result, the Senate was sparsely populated during the session, with most members busy working on the budget ahead of its presentation.
The Senate President emphasized the urgency of completing the budget process swiftly to allow for its final consideration and passage before the end of February. His remarks followed a debate on a bill seeking the establishment of the Federal University of Agriculture in Abak, Akwa Ibom State, which was briefly interrupted to discuss the 2025 appropriation bill.
Akpabio noted, “You will observe that some of our colleagues are not in the Chamber because of the required final touches on the 2025 Appropriation bill, report of which will possibly be laid before us tomorrow (Wednesday) or next tomorrow (Thursday) this week.” He urged senators to work together to finalize the budget discussion as quickly as possible, citing its critical importance for the country’s financial planning.
The 2025 budget process has undergone significant changes in recent weeks. Initially, both the Senate and the House of Representatives set a deadline of January 31, 2025, to pass President Bola Tinubu’s proposed budget of N49.7 trillion. However, after a delay in the chambers’ resumption from their holiday break, this deadline was moved to February 4, 2025. It was on this day that the lawmakers received communication from President Tinubu informing them of an increase in the budget’s total expenditure from N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion.
In response, both Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas urged the Committee on Appropriations to expedite the reprocessing of the budget to reflect the additional N4.5 trillion. Akpabio reiterated the need for swift action, stating, “We need to close early to allow for collective efforts in that direction for final consideration and passage of the 2025 appropriation bill.”
Given the urgency expressed by both chambers, the Senate President indicated that the report on the revised N54.2 trillion budget would likely be presented for consideration by Wednesday or Thursday, ensuring the proposed budget is passed before the close of February 2025.