The Senate has granted approval for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request to borrow ₦1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to finance the outstanding portion of Nigeria’s 2025 budget deficit.
The approval followed the consideration and adoption of the report submitted by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during plenary on Wednesday.
According to the committee’s findings, the 2025 Appropriation Act provides for a total expenditure of ₦59.99 trillion—an increase of ₦5.25 trillion over the ₦54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive. This upward revision resulted in a total budget deficit of ₦14.10 trillion. Of this figure, ₦12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving a balance of about ₦1.15 trillion (₦1,147,462,863,321) to be sourced domestically.
In a related resolution, the Senate adopted a motion sponsored by Senator Abdul Ningi, mandating the Committee on Appropriations to strengthen its oversight role to ensure that the newly approved borrowing is judiciously utilised during the 2025 fiscal year and applied strictly for its intended purposes.
President Tinubu had, in a letter dated November 4, sought the National Assembly’s approval for the fresh ₦1.15 trillion borrowing to cover the budget shortfall.
According to the President’s letter, the proposed domestic loan is aimed at bridging the funding gap and ensuring full implementation of key government programmes and projects outlined in the 2025 fiscal plan.
