President Bola Tinubu has sought the approval of the Senate for the proposed N1.783 trillion 2025 Statutory Appropriation Bill for the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA.
Tinubu, in a communication to the Red Chamber and read by its President, Senator Godswill Akpabio during plenary on Wednesday, appealed for expeditious consideration and passage of the budget, which he said was critical to ensuring an effective and service-oriented administration for residents of the FCT.
“Pursuant to section 299 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, which vests legislative powers over the Federal Capital Territory in the National Assembly, I hereby present the 2025 FCT budget proposal to the Senate for consideration.
“The 2025 FCT budget proposal prioritises investment in health care services, job creation, youth empowerment, social welfare services, and education infrastructure, as well as increasing productivity in agriculture,” the President stated.
To sustain the ongoing efforts at providing basic infrastructure and social amenities in the FCT, he said 85 per cent of the capital expenditure was dedicated to the completion of ongoing projects, while 15 per cent was earmarked for new capital projects.
Responding to the request, the Senate invoked Order 78 to allow the bill to scale second reading the same day it was introduced.
Leading the debate on the bill, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central), explained that the proposed legislation seeks to authorise the issuance of N1,783,823,708,392.00k from the FCT Administration’s Statutory Revenue Fund to finance personnel, overhead, and capital expenditures between January 1 and December 31, 2025.
He gave the budget breakdown as N150.35 billion for personnel costs, N343.78 billion for overhead, and N1.29 trillion allocated for capital projects.
Senator Bamidele said the primary objective of the budget was to drive an effective and enduring service-oriented administration, with a strong focus on completing ongoing projects that have significant impacts on infrastructure and essential services in Abuja.
He noted that the budget prioritises the continuation of existing projects in the FCT, with the introduction of new ones deemed crucial.
All the Senators, who contributed to the debate on the general principles of the Appropriation Bill, commended President Tinubu and the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike for the rapid infrastructural development of the Territory within two years in office and called for more provision of social amenities in the satellite towns.
