The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to cover the deficit in the country’s 2025 budget.
The approval followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during plenary on Wednesday.
The committee noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act provides for a total expenditure of N59.99 trillion, an increase of N5.25 trillion over the initial N54.74 trillion proposed by the Executive.
This expansion created a total budget deficit of N14.10 trillion, of which N12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded deficit of approximately N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).
Last week (November 4), President Tinubu formally wrote to the lawmakers requesting a fresh N1.15 trillion in borrowing for the 2025 fiscal year, with a month left for the year to end.
He stated that it would bridge the funding gap and ensure full implementation of government programs and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.
In a related development, a motion by Mr Abdul Ningi was adopted, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to intensify oversight to ensure that the borrowed funds are properly implemented and used strictly for their intended purposes.
This follows approval by the Senate and the House of Representatives approved to obtain $2.347 billion in fresh foreign loans, including a $500 million debut Sovereign Sukuk, to finance part of the 2025 budget deficit and refinance Nigeria’s maturing Eurobonds.
Last week, the $2.25 billion Eurobond was oversubscribed by 470 per cent with investors taking advantage of positive signals in the Nigerian economy.
Regardless of this, there is mounting public concern over Nigeria’s rising debt stock, which has climbed to over N152.40 trillion ($99 billion) as of mid-2025, according to figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The federal government alone accounts for over 92 per cent of Nigeria’s public debt at N141.08 trillion, with N64.49 trillion as external debt and N76.59 trillion as local debt. States account for 7.4 per cent at N11.32 trillion as per the debt office.