President Bola Tinubu’s request to collect N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market in order to pay for the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit has been approved by the Senate.
The Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt adopted a report in plenary on Wednesday, which was followed by the approval.
The committee observed that the 2025 Appropriations Act calls for a total spending of N59.99 trillion, which is N5.25 trillion more than the Executive’s initial proposal of N54.74 trillion.
An unpaid deficit of roughly N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321) remained after this increase resulted in a total budget deficit of N14.10 trillion, of which N12.95 trillion had previously been approved for borrowing.
Tinubu publicly requested the new N1.15 trillion loan on November 4.
According to him, it would guarantee the full execution of government initiatives and programs under the 2025 fiscal plan and close the funding gap.
In a related development, Senator Abdul Ningi’s resolution was approved, instructing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to step up oversight to guarantee that the borrowed monies are appropriately implemented and rigorously used for their intended purposes.
