The National Assembly has officially released a detailed timetable for passing the 2025 budget. All legislative activities are slated to conclude in the first week of February.
Senate spokesperson Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu revealed that the joint committee on appropriations from both chambers of the National Assembly is set to present their report on the N49.7 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill for consideration and approval on January 31.
This fiscal legislation was initially introduced by President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday, December 18, before the joint session of the federal legislature.
Following this, the Senate and the House of Representatives held separate plenary sessions on December 19, during which they debated the general principles of the money bill and subsequently passed it for second reading.
The National Assembly adjourned plenary until January 14 to allow legislators to celebrate Christmas and New Year in their respective constituencies.
This development occurred just a day after the president presented the budget estimates to the National Assembly. During the adjournment, Senate President 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 National Assembly leadership convened to establish a timetable that would facilitate the timely passage of the budget by the first week of February 2025. A copy of this timetable was distributed to all lawmakers. It indicates that the joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriations will meet with the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, Mr Wale Edun, on January 7, 2025, at 2 PM.
This meeting will also include the 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 from January 8 to January 15, 2025.
The laying, presentation, and potential approval of the report by the Appropriation Committee are set for January 31, 2025, with an expected passage 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.”
