The National Assembly has officially released a detailed timetable for the passage of the 2025 budget proposal, with all legislative activities slated to be concluded in the first week of February.
LEADERSHIP reports that the development negates the January-December budget cycle practice.
Senate spokesperson, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, revealed that the National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriations was set to present its report on the N49.7 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill for consideration and approval on January 31, 2025.
The fiscal legislation was initially laid before the joint session of the federal legislature by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, December 18.
Following this, both the Senate and the House of Representatives at their respective plenary sessions on December 19, debated the general principles of the Money Bill and subsequently passed it for second reading.
To allow legislators to celebrate Christmas and New Year festivals in their respective constituencies, the National Assembly adjourned plenary until January 14, 2025.
Notably, this development occurred just a day after the President presented the budget estimates to the National Assembly. During the adjournment, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, instructed the Committee on Appropriation to begin work on the budget proposal within four weeks. He also indicated that lawmakers might be summoned back from their holiday if necessary.
In a strategic move, the leadership of the National Assembly convened to establish a timetable that would facilitate the timely passage of the budget by the first week of February 2025. A copy of the timetable was distributed to all lawmakers. It indicated that the joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriations will meet with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on January 7, 2025, at 2pm.
The meeting will also include Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, and the Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, among other key officials.
Subsequently, the floor will be opened for heads of various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government to defend their budget estimates before the joint appropriation subcommittees of the federal legislature. According to the timetable, this exercise is scheduled to take place from January 8 to January 15, 2025.
The laying, presentation, and potential approval of the report by the Appropriation Committee were set for January 31, 2025, with an expected passage of the proposed budget in the first week of February.
In a recent interview, Adaramodu stated, “Full activities on the 2025 Appropriation Bill will commence in the second week of January. The joint committees of the Senate and House of Representatives will begin meeting with MDAs on January 7. The final report will be laid on January 31.”
