Kehinde Fajobi
President Bola Tinubu sparked laughter during his 2025 budget presentation to the National Assembly on Wednesday when he mistakenly referred to the 10th Assembly as the 11th.
The President quickly recovered, joking, “I wrote 11, which means you are all re-elected.”
Tinubu presented the ₦47.9tn budget, titled the Budget of Restoration, at 12:40 pm in the presence of Senators and House members, who cheered him on.
He highlighted defence and security (₦4.91tn), infrastructure (₦4.06tn), health (₦2.4tn), and education (₦3.5tn) as key allocations.
“The 2025 budget seeks to restore macroeconomic stability, enhance the business environment, foster inclusive growth, employment, and poverty reduction, and promote equitable income distribution and human capital development,” Tinubu said.
He revealed a projected revenue of ₦34.8tn and a total expenditure of ₦47.9tn, leaving a deficit of ₦13tn, or 3.89% of GDP.
The budget also targets reduced inflation, from 34.6% to 15%, and an improved exchange rate of ₦1,500 per dollar.
Tinubu pegged crude oil production at 2.06 million barrels per day for 2025, predicting reduced importation of refined petroleum products and an increase in exports.
“This is an ambitious but necessary budget to secure our future,” Tinubu concluded.