By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The Nigerian Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to finance the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget.
The approval followed the consideration and adoption of a report presented by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during Wednesday’s plenary session.
The committee explained that the 2025 Appropriation Act sets total expenditure at N59.99 trillion, marking a rise of N5.25 trillion over the N54.74 trillion originally proposed by the Executive.
This increase pushed the budget deficit to N14.10 trillion. While N12.95 trillion had already received legislative approval for borrowing, the remaining unfunded portion stands at around N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).
In addition, Senator Abdul Ningi’s motion was adopted, urging the Senate Committee on Appropriations to step up oversight and ensure that the borrowed funds are utilised properly and strictly for their designated projects in the 2025 fiscal year.
President Tinubu had on November 4 written to the National Assembly, seeking approval to borrow N1.15 trillion from domestic sources to bridge the deficit.
The letter indicated that the borrowing is aimed at covering the shortfall and guaranteeing the full execution of government programmes and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.