National Assembly to Finalize 2025 Budget by February, Announces Timeline
The National Assembly has unveiled a detailed schedule for the passage of the 2025 budget, with all legislative activities set to be completed in the first week of February.
This announcement deviates from the traditional January-December budget cycle. Senate spokesperson, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, confirmed that the National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriations will present its report on the N49.7 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill for consideration and approval by January 31, 2025.
President Bola Tinubu initially presented the fiscal bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 18. The Senate and House of Representatives then debated the general principles of the bill during their plenary sessions on December 19 and passed it for second reading.
To accommodate the holiday season, the National Assembly adjourned until January 14, 2025, allowing lawmakers to return to their constituencies for the Christmas and New Year festivities.
This adjournment came just a day after the President’s budget presentation. During this break, Senate President Godswill Akpabio directed the Appropriation Committee to begin working on the budget proposal within four weeks, indicating that lawmakers could be called back from their holiday if necessary.
In a bid to ensure timely passage of the budget, the National Assembly leadership developed a timetable outlining key steps to be completed by early February. A copy of the schedule was distributed to all lawmakers. It details that the Joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriations will meet with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on January 7, 2025, at 2 p.m.
Other key officials, including Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, and the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, will also attend.
From January 8 to January 15, 2025, heads of various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) will defend their budget estimates before the joint Appropriation subcommittees of the federal legislature. The final report of the committee is expected to be laid before the National Assembly on January 31, 2025, with passage of the 2025 budget anticipated in the first week of February.
Senator Adaramodu recently stated, “Full activities on the 2025 Appropriation Bill will begin in the second week of January. The joint committees will start meeting with MDAs on January 7, and the final report will be laid on January 31.”
