The African Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) has hailed, the just presented, Nigeria’s 2025 budget of ₦47.96 trillion, as a well-calculated strategy for economic recovery and the largest in the country’s history. Tagged as “Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity,” the budget seeks to consolidate key policies implemented to restructure the economy, improve the development of human capital, increase Trade and Investment volume, support oil and gas production, revive the Manufacturing sector, and ultimately raise the economy’s competitiveness.
Dr. Richard Ikani, Executive Director of ACHR, outlined several key objectives in the budget, such as stabilising the value of the Naira at ₦1,500 per $1 from the current ₦1,656, cutting Inflation down from 34% to 15% by 2025, and reaching the ambitious Revenue target of ₦34.82 trillion. The budget also seeks to increase oil output to 2.06 million barrels per day and improve Tax Collection in order to reduce reliance on external debt. According to experts, these actions are essential for restoring Economic Stability in Nigeria, boosting investor confidence, and guaranteeing long-term prosperity.
Rise in spending demonstrates the govt’s commitment.
A progressive increase in fiscal obligations across the years to the presented ₦47.96 trillion for 2025, represents a strong move forward from the ₦28.7 trillion approved budget of 2024 and the ₦21.8 trillion approved in 2023. This rise in spending demonstrates the administration’s commitment to boosting social services, infrastructure, and economic growth. In addition to being larger than the previous years, the 2025 budget is more ambitious, underscoring the administration’s emphasis on expansionary fiscal policies meant to promote economic growth, lower poverty, and enhance infrastructure.
As presented by President Bola Tinubu, the budget earmarks record allocations for several key sectors. With ₦4.91 trillion, defense and Security receive an increased share of the allocations, indicating an emphasis on enhancing National Security and battling insurgency. ₦4.06 trillion is earmarked for Infrastructure development, showing the government’s efforts to solve Nigeria’s severe infrastructure deficiencies. Furthermore, ₦2.48 trillion has been set aside for healthcare, with the goal of enhancing disease prevention, access to medical services, and health infrastructure. ₦3.52 trillion goes to the Education sector, a significant expenditure meant to solve enduring issues like Teacher preparation and school infrastructure.
Revenue is expected to reach ₦34.82 trillion in 2025.
In comparison, education received ₦742 billion in 2021, ₦1.1 trillion in 2022, ₦1.7 trillion in 2023, and ₦1.5 trillion in 2024. The administration’s determination to address persistent issues like poor school infrastructure, teacher shortages, and access to high-quality education is demonstrated by the 2025 allocation, which is more than double that of 2024. Debt servicing is still a major expense, accounting for ₦15.81 trillion, or 33% of the whole budget. The rising expense of managing Nigeria’s expanding public debt, which remains a significant fiscal challenge, is reflected in this allocation.
Comparatively, the 2024 budget allotted ₦8.25 trillion, while the 2023 budget allotted ₦6.31 trillion for debt servicing, indicating a sharp rise over the previous year. As per the presented 2025 budget, revenue is expected to reach ₦34.82 trillion, with a ₦13.08 trillion deficit, or 3.89% of GDP. Earnings from privatisation initiatives as well as borrowing from both local and foreign sources will be used to cover this deficit. The anticipated spending of ₦47.90 trillion represents a significant increase from ₦21.8 trillion in 2024 and ₦17.1 trillion in 2023, indicating the government’s growing fiscal expansion.
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This budgetary expansion is in line with the economic reform plan of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which aims to diversify revenue sources and fulfill pressing development needs. As the nation gets ready for the implementation of the 2025 budget, expectations among stakeholders and citizens have increased. Stakeholders across several sectors are eager to witness how these unprecedented allocations will translate to tangible benefits for Nigerians. By prioritising infrastructure, health, and education, the government is demonstrating its intention to address the most urgent problems confronting the country while establishing the groundwork for sustained development.