Nigeria’s National Assembly has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow ₦1.15 trillion to cover a shortfall in the 2025 national budget.
The approval was granted on Wednesday during a joint plenary session of the Senate and House of Representatives in Abuja.
President Tinubu had written to both chambers on November 4, asking lawmakers to authorise additional domestic borrowing after the budget expanded beyond its initial revenue and borrowing projections.
The 2025 budget, valued at ₦59.9 trillion, is ₦5.25 trillion higher than the ₦54.74 trillion earlier proposed by the executive. This increase has created a deficit now estimated at ₦14 trillion.
In his letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, President Tinubu said it had become “necessary to increase the domestic borrowing limit by ₦1.147 trillion to close this gap.”
Senator Haruna Manu, deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, presented the committee’s report recommending that the borrowing be conducted within approved fiscal guidelines to ensure transparency and debt sustainability.
The committee also urged the Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office (DMO) to provide quarterly reports on the loan’s utilisation, repayment, and impact on debt sustainability.
Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central, moved an amendment requiring the Appropriations Committee to ensure the borrowed funds are used strictly for their intended purposes.
Supporting the motion, Senator Solomon Adeola of Ogun West said the borrowing was crucial to maintain government operations amid financial shortfalls. “We have shortfalls from the 2025 budget, and we need borrowings,” he said. “This will be sourced locally, and I call on my colleagues to support this bill in its entirety.”
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin commended the committee for what he described as a “well-delivered and timely report.”
This development follows the National Assembly’s earlier approval in October for the federal government to borrow $2.35 billion and issue a $500 million sovereign sukuk on the international capital market to fund infrastructure projects and diversify Nigeria’s financing sources.
The borrowing plan forms part of President Tinubu’s broader fiscal strategy to address budgetary pressures amid declining oil revenues and high expenditure demands.