N24.8 trillion of the proposed budget for 2025 will go to debt servicing and salaries, according to the proposed Appropriation Bill.
President Bola Tinubu presented the budget titled “Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity” to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, outlining an ambitious N49.70tn spending plan.
The budget prioritises defence, infrastructure, and human capital development, with a projected deficit of N13.39tn to be financed through borrowing.
A closer look at the proposal revealed that government plans to spend N8.52tn (inclusive of government enterprises) on personnel and pension costs for federal workers next year, an analysis of the 2025 Appropriation Bill has shown.
This amount is an increase of N3.17tn or 59.16 per cent from the 2024 provision of N5.35tn.
The document also showed that government expenses on the payment of salaries alone will reach N7.54tn, marking an increase of N2.75tn from N4.79tn paid to federal workers in 2024.
The personnel and pension costs of N8.52tn and the debt service cost of N16.33tn make up a total sum of N24.85tn, gulping 53.98 per cent out of the total N46.02tn 2025 budget
It was also observed that the government would spend more on debt servicing than it would spend on paying the salaries and pensions of its workers.
