The National Assembly has made amends to certain line items in the 2025 Appropriation Bill passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives last week, due to the discovery of errors in the capital and recurrent expenditure categories.
The overall budget size remains at N54.99 trillion, but the capital expenditure has been reduced by over N500 billion, while the same amount has been redirected to increase recurrent expenditure.
At plenary sessions on Tuesday, both chambers of the National Assembly adjusted the figures for various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). Some adjustments led to an increase in allocations, while others saw a downward revision.
Francis Waive, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business (APC, Delta), who presented the motion for the rescission of the previously approved session items, explained that the decision was prompted by errors identified in the figures initially passed by the committee.
According to him, while the overall figure of N54.99 trillion, the statutory transfer of N3.64 trillion, and the N14.32 trillion remained unchanged, certain allocations were revised. Specifically, the recurrent (non-debt) expenditure was adjusted to N13.56 trillion, and the capital budget was set at N23.44 trillion.
The revision also impacted budget estimates for several key agencies, including the Ministries of Defence and Police Affairs, the National Pension Commission, Universities Pensions, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (covering civilian pensions), and the Pension Transition Arrangement Directorate, among others.
Waive further disclosed that several key government bodies, including the Presidency, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, as well as the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Works, Labour and Employment, Transportation, Innovation, Science and Technology, Education, Environment, Health, and Social Welfare, among others, had their budget proposals increased for the 2025 fiscal year.
He emphasized that it is the responsibility of the House to address the discrepancies identified during the compilation process by the Joint Committee. He assured that the necessary revisions and eventual passage would not impact the overall budget size of N54.99 trillion.
