The National Assembly on Thursday passed the 2025 Appropriation Bill, raising the total estimates by over N700 billion from the proposed N54.2 trillion to 54,990,165,355,396.

One key adjustment in the budget is the approval of N300 billion for health intervention programmes following the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to pause foreign aid for 90 days.

The lawmakers also approved an additional N100 billion for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), bringing its total allocation to N140 billion from the initial N40 billion proposed budget.

Other agencies that got additional budget were the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corruption Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC), the National Judicial Council (NJC), and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

In the bill passed, the sum of N3,645,761,358,925 was earmarked for statutory transfers, N14,317,142,689,548 for debt servicing, N13,064,009,682,673 for recurrent expenditure while N23,963,251,624,250 is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on the 31 December, 2025.

The passage of the budget followed the consideration and adoption of the report by the House and Senate Committee on Appropriations on the bill at the plenary on Thursday.

The report came on a supplementary order paper which was later issued during the session.

At the Green Chamber, the budget was passed after the Chairman of the appropriation committee, Abubakar Bichi presented the committee’s report to the House. The bill was considered by the Committee of Supply on a clause-by-clause basis.

President Bola Tinubu had initially presented N49.7 trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly but later raised the amount to N54.2 trillion.

The increase, according to the President, is based on additional revenues generated by key government agencies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (N1.4 trillion), Nigeria Customs Service (N1.2 trillion), and other government-owned agencies (N1.8 trillion).

While defending the 2025 budget proposal before the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, told the lawmakers that the N40 billion allocated to the commission by the Federal government would not be enough to fund its activities in 2025 and begin preparation for the 2027 general elections.

Yakubu said the commission would require about N126bn to fund its activities in the year under review. However, the National Assembly approved a budget of N140 billion for the commission.