Niger Assembly Passes 2025 Budget

Laleye Dipo in Minna 

Exactly one week after Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago presented the 2025 budget proposal to the state House of Assembly, the legislators yesterday  approved the proposal.

As a result the executive is now empowered to spend N1.558 trillion for the year 2025 as requested by the governor.

The passage of the appropriation bill followed the submission of the report of the House Committee on Planning and Appropriation  headed by the member representing Rafi state constituency Alhaji Zubairu Ismaila Zana at  plenary.

The committee, however, carried out some adjustments in the budget based  on its observations but added that these adjustments did not affect the entire budget size.

Zana said the committee observed that “the provision of the capital head of N1,920,000,000 for the legislature is grossly inadequate and therefore recommended that the sum of N1,196,097,350 be moved from special project/stabilisation, to bring the total to N3,116,097,350 as total capital expenditure for the legislature.

“The committee also observed that the proposed recurrent expenditure of the legislature is inadequate and therefore recommended that the sum of N793,704,715.56 be moved from the state pension and gratuity statutory to the N2,753,295,284.44 provided in the budget as recurrent expenditure of the state legislature to bring the total to N3,547,000,000.00.”

The committee pointed out that in line with the adjustments, the following amendments in the budget were effected, and these include: recurrent expenditure of N199,235,361,443.00, which is made up of N72,276,458,552.00 as personnel cost, N53,986,010,146.00 as overhead cost and N72,952,892,754.00as consolidated revenue.

According to the committee, the recommended capital expenditure based on the adjustments now stand at N1,359,652,203,915.00 and this comprised N27,977,297,352.00 as administrative cost, N1,103,239,447,039.98 for economic sector, N3,508,500,000.00 allocated to law and justice while social sector will now take the sum of N224,926,959,923.00.

The committee nonetheless frowned at the late submission of the 2025 budget to house which according to the chairman, “resulted in the hasty scrutiny but timely passage”.

“It is therefore recommended that the executive arm should ensure that the budget is laid before the legislature at least three months before the end of the year for proper scrutiny for timely passage”.

When the report was put majority of the members supported it’s passage and it was passed.

The Speaker Alhaji Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji directed the Clerk to send the clean copy of the budget to the Governor for his assent.