The 2025 budget proposal unveiled by President Bola Tinubu’s administration is nothing short of an affront to the sensibilities of Nigerians. At a time when the nation is groaning under the weight of a debilitating economic crisis, skyrocketing cost of living, and relentless insecurity, the grotesque frivolity of the allocations to the Presidency and National Assembly betrays a leadership utterly disconnected from the realities of the country. Dubbed the “Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity,” this N47.9 trillion appropriation is a grotesque spectacle of squander mania, wasteful allocations, and glaring insensitivity to Nigeria’s fiscal and social realities. The proposed N344.85 billion allocation for the National Assembly and the N9.4 billion earmarked for travel, food, and refreshments for the presidency are emblematic of an administration more concerned with elite comfort than national progress. In a country where over 63% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty, these figures are an affront to decency and governance. This is not a “Budget of Restoration,” as misleadingly titled, but a blueprint for plundering the nation’s scarce resources while leaving the masses to drown in poverty and despair. It is a betrayal of public trust, a dereliction of duty, and a stark reminder of the widening gulf between Nigeria’s ruling elite and its citizens.
“In 2025, we are targeting 34.82 trillion naira in revenue to fund the budget. Government expenditure in the same year is projected to be 47.90 trillion naira, including 15.81 trillion naira for debt servicing,” Tinubu said, while presenting the budget to lawmakers. However, he did not disclose the fact that the budget allocated N6,364,181,224 billion for the renovation and rehabilitation of the residential quarters of the president and the vice president and some of their aides. The presidency alone plans to splurge N11.6 billion on local and international trips for President Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima. This includes N6.14 billion for international travel, a figure that dwarfs the budgets of critical sectors like health and education in many states. Additionally, the presidency proposes to spend N546 million on catering materials and N71 million on refreshments, while Nigerians are struggling to afford basic meals due to skyrocketing food prices. The Presidency’s travel budget – more befitting of a globe-trotting monarch than leaders of a nation in crisis – is an affront to the sacrifices of ordinary Nigerians. Families are skipping meals, workers’ salaries are in arrears, and businesses are shutting down, yet the government prioritizes extravagant travels over economic recovery. This wasteful expenditure alone could fund critical healthcare services or provide clean water to underserved communities.
This administration’s wastefulness is not confined to travel and catering. A budget that proposes to squander N1.99 billion to fuel State House generators – an amount higher than the combined allocations for the same purpose in the last four years – is a damning admission of failure. It starkly underscores a government that has thrown in the towel on addressing the nation’s epileptic power supply, choosing instead to perpetuate a generator economy that fuels inefficiency and darkness. The N1,989,579,379 is higher than the amount budgeted in 2024-(N37,959,406), 2023-(N30,678,552), 2022-(N30,678,552), and 2021-(N45,678,552) combined by a staggering 1,272% and 5,143% higher than the N37,959,406 budgeted for the same item last year. This outrageous allocation mocks the millions of Nigerians who endure daily blackouts while grappling with exorbitant electricity tariffs. In 2024 alone, the national power grid collapsed 12 times, an average of once every month. Businesses are shutting down, and leaving because they suffer an annual $29 billion revenue loss due to inadequate power supply, per the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA).
Equally scandalous is the National Assembly’s budget of N344.85 billion, shrouded in opacity and reeking of self-serving excesses, with no detailed breakdown provided. This lack of transparency is a glaring violation of constitutional principles and an insult to the Nigerian people. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has rightly demanded a full disclosure of this budget, including personnel costs and lawmakers’ salaries and allowances. However, the silence from the legislative chambers is deafening. The lawmakers’ refusal to scrutinize their own budget while rubber-stamping executive excesses highlights their complicity in the government’s fiscal irresponsibility. Their primary role as custodians of public trust has been abandoned in favor of self-serving priorities. Instead of addressing the people’s pressing needs, lawmakers appear more interested in feathering their nests. The same national assembly that preaches fiscal discipline has shamelessly refused to cut its bloated budget while Nigerians wallow in poverty. This is nothing less than an abdication of their constitutional responsibility.
The ruling APC and major opposition parties have disagreed over the humongous N27 billion for the entitlements of former presidents, vice presidents, heads of state, chiefs of staff, retired heads of service, and professors in the 2025 fiscal year. Beneficiaries of this allocation include former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari, alongside ex-vice-presidents Atiku Abubakar, Nnamadi Sambo, and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. Others expected to benefit are ex-military Heads of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), as well as former junta leader, Ibrahim Babangida, and retired Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe. Such frivolous spending on ex- heads of state who amassed huge fortunes while in office, is unconscionable. The government’s justification for such opulence is not only hollow but also contemptuous of the average Nigerian.
SERAP’s revelation that this administration has prioritized wasteful spending on travels, refreshments, and generator fueling over addressing the nation’s power sector crisis is both damning and disgraceful. The proposed N9.4 billion for meals, refreshments, and foodstuff for the Presidency is a slap in the face of struggling Nigerians who can barely afford a single meal a day. Equally reprehensible is the lack of accountability in the handling of public funds. Billions of naira remain unaccounted for in various ministries, departments, and agencies, as documented by the Auditor-General’s report. Yet, instead of cracking down on corruption and waste, this administration doubles down on frivolity, presenting a budget that prioritizes luxury over livelihood.
The government’s failure to focus on infrastructure development and public services further exacerbates the plight of the Nigerian people. It is unconscionable that while the nation reels from one of the worst borrowing crises in its history, public officials have chosen to line their pockets rather than alleviate the people’s suffering. Nigeria’s borrowing spree to fund extravagant budgets is unsustainable and unjust. The proposed 2025 budget includes a record deficit, to be financed largely through loans. This mortgaging of the nation’s future to satisfy the whims of the political class is both reckless and cruel. Persistent borrowing is not only an economic burden but also a betrayal of the promises made by this administration to address waste and reduce the cost of governance.
SERAP’s demand for a supplementary appropriation bill that reduces the budgets of the presidency and national assembly is both timely and necessary. Cutting these frivolous expenditures would not only address the budget deficit but also redirect funds to critical areas like healthcare, education, and social welfare. Lawmakers must also fulfill their constitutional oversight duties by holding MDAs accountable for missing public funds. The 2025 budget prioritizes the comfort of the political elite over the welfare of ordinary Nigerians, in direct contravention of the Nigerian Constitution, which mandates that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. The Nigerian people deserve leaders who are stewards of their resources, not predators feeding off their misery. It is time for Tinubu and his administration to prove that they are capable of putting Nigeria first—not their luxuries, not their convenience, but the people who elected them to serve. Anything less is a dereliction of duty and an unforgivable affront to the nation. History will judge this administration harshly if it continues down this path of fiscal irresponsibility and moral bankruptcy.
