Tinubu’s 2025 budget lacks transparency, contravenes Fiscal Responsibility Act – BudgIT
The Presidency initially submitted a proposed expenditure of N47.9 trillion, which President Bola Tinubu later reviewed to N54.2 trillion through a presidential letter citing increased revenue expectations.
The National Assembly further increased this figure to N54.9 trillion, without publishing any accompanying macroeconomic or fiscal analysis to justify the addition.
According to BudgIT, the changes fall short of the requirements of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007, which mandates that aggregate expenditure must not exceed estimated aggregate revenue plus a deficit of no more than three per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“Based on the Budget Office’s GDP projection of N338 trillion, total spending should not have surpassed N51.95 trillion. The appropriation exceeds that limit by more than N3 trillion, raising concerns about fiscal discipline and legal compliance.
“Equally troubling is the government’s continued refusal to publish a detailed revenue breakdown for the 2025 fiscal year.
“While references have been made to certain revenue sources, no comprehensive data has been released to allow for independent scrutiny,” it stated.
BudgIT’s Group Head of Research and Policy Advisory, Vahyala Kwaga, stressed that the patterns signalled a regression from the standards of FRA that Nigeria has worked to establish over the past decade.
BudgIT, therefore, called on the Presidency to uphold the principles of transparency, due process, and legal compliance in the management of public funds.
