The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise ₦1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to cover the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.
The approval followed the adoption of the report presented by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during plenary on Wednesday.
According to the committee, the 2025 Appropriation Act provides for a total expenditure of ₦59.99 trillion — an increase of ₦5.25 trillion from the ₦54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive.
The adjustment resulted in a total budget deficit of ₦14.10 trillion. Out of this, ₦12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded gap of approximately ₦1.15 trillion (₦1,147,462,863,321).
In a related development, the Senate adopted a motion sponsored by Senator Abdul Ningi, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to strengthen its oversight functions and ensure that the borrowed funds are utilised strictly for their intended purposes during the 2025 fiscal year.
President Tinubu, in a letter dated November 4, had sought the National Assembly’s approval for the fresh ₦1.15 trillion domestic borrowing to finance the deficit in the 2025 budget.
In the correspondence read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the President explained that the borrowing was necessary to bridge the funding gap and ensure the full implementation of government programmes and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.
Following the reading of the letter, the request was referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wammako (APC, Sokoto North), which was mandated to review the proposal and present its report within one week for legislative consideration.
