Philip Nyam 
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar Bichi has explained that the raising of the 2025 budget by N700 billion was due to the withdrawal of health support by the United States of America.
Bichi, who disclosed this shortly after the House approved the N54.9trn 2025 budget estimates said the increase is aimed at bolstering the health sector and funding critical infrastructure across the country.
“As you know, the United States government has withdrawn its support for some countries in terms of providing health support, and Nigeria is among them,” Bichi said in a statement.
“The president proactively requested an addition of $200 million, which is about N300 billion, to cater to the health sector for people facing challenges like tuberculosis, HIV, malaria and polio.”
Bichi noted that the executive proposal included a detailed estimate of around N340 billion, bringing the total to N640 billion for the health sector and other priority areas. “If you add it all together, it gives you around N640 billion”.
He disclosed that several agencies, including INEC, NFYU, DSS, and others, had submitted general requests, which further increased the budget. “That’s what makes it a N700 billion addition”.
The lawmaker explained that the budget will also address the country’s capital expenditure, which has suffered a N23 trillion loss adding that the funds will go towards “critical projects such as rail projects, road infrastructures, agriculture, as well as education.”
He assured that the government had taken careful measures to secure the necessary resources.
“Before we increased the budget, we had a meeting with the Ministry of Finance, the Nigerian Coastal Service, and FRS (Federal Inland Revenue Service), and they confirmed to us that they would be able to come up with enough funding for the budget,” he stated.
The House has earlier approved the 2025 budget estimates of N54.9 trillion.
The approval was consequent upon the presentation of the report of the Joint Committee on Appropriation of the Senate and the House by the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Abubakar Bichi.
The budget was passed by the Committee of the Whole after a clause-by-clause consideration.
The budget is titled “A Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N54,990,1 65,355, 396(Fifty-Four Trillion, Nine Hundred and Ninety Billion One Hundred and Sixty-Five Million, Three Hundred and Fifty-Five Thousand, Three Hundred and Ninety-Six Naira) only, of which N3,645,761,358,925 (Three Trillion, Six Hundred and Forty-Five Billion, Seven Hundred and Sixty-One Million, Three Hundred and Fifty-Eight Thousand, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Five Naira) only is for Statutory Transfers. N14,317.142,689,548 (Fourteen Trillion, Three Hundred and Seventeen Billion, One Hundred and Forty-Two Million, Six Hundred and Eighty-Nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Forty-Eight Naira) only is for Debt Service, N13,064,009,682,673 (Thirteen Trillion, Sixty-Four Billion, Nine Million, Six Hundred and Eighty-Two Thousand, Six Hundred and Seventy-Three Naira) only is for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure. The sum of N23,963, 251,624,250 (Twenty-Three Trillion, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Three Billion, Two Hundred and Fifty-One Million, Six Hundred and Twenty-Four Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty Naira) only is for contribution to the |Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on the 31 December 2025.”
