President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has increased the proposed 2025 budget from N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion, citing additional revenues generated by key government agencies.
The President conveyed the budget adjustment in separate letters sent to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which were read during plenary on Wednesday by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
According to President Tinubu, the increase was driven by N1.4 trillion in additional revenue from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), N1.2 trillion from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and N1.8 trillion generated by other government-owned agencies.
This is even as the presidency has announced that Tinubu is heading to France for a private visit.
The visit to France makes it the fourth time the president is travelling out of the country.
He had in the first week of January, travelled to United Arab Emirate (UAE) for a summit on sustainability.
He later travelled to Ghana for the inauguration of President John Dramani, and afterwards to Tanzania.
According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, from France, the president would move to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, for the forthcoming African Union Summit.
“In Addis Ababa, President Tinubu will join African leaders at the 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State, scheduled from February 12th to 16th, 2025.”
“The president will arrive in Addis Ababa early next week for the African Union summit. While in France, President Tinubu will meet with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron,” Onanuga said in a statement.
However, following the announcement, the Senate President has referred the President’s request to the Senate Committee on Appropriations for urgent consideration.
He assured lawmakers that the budget would be finalised and passed before the end of February.
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With this development, the National Assembly is expected to fast-track deliberations to ensure timely approval and implementation of the 2025 budget.
But, the president’s frequent trips abroad have come under public scrutiny on the back of the economic hardship in the country, with Nigerians raising concerns over his large entourage.
There have also been arguments whether such trips had attracted commensurate benefits and investments for the country.
But while appearing on a Channels Television programme recently, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, had justified the trips that most Nigerians say have become drain pipes on the lean resources of the country, saying, rather they are not enough and that the country is rich enough to fund the foreign trips.
Arguing that the trips have strategic importance and inherent benefits to the country, Tuggar noted that Tinubu could only strengthen ties with fellow global leaders in his quest to set the country on the right path.
His words: “It is not a fair assessment. The administration is still new because the President was sworn in in 2023. In global terms, he is still a new president. He needs to interact with his colleagues and fellow heads of state to be able to establish relationships.
“You can further see the fruits of these trips and their benefits which attracted $2bn (worth) of investments like he did in Brazil. In fact, I would venture to say we are not travelling enough. We should do more.
“Nigeria has the money. How much does travelling cost compared to the benefits? Again, how much does it cost really when you compare it to some of the things that the President has already addressed?
“How much have we wasted on fuel, electricity and other subsidies? He was subsidising consumption instead of production and subsidising the real sector of the economy,” he added.
