Ahead of the National Assembly’s potential adoption of the N49.70 trillion 2025 budget proposal this week, House Deputy Spokesman Rep.
Philip Agbese has provided justifications for why certain organizations deemed crucial to the country’s socioeconomic progress have been targeted for increased funding in the 2025 fiscal year.
In an interview in Abuja, Agbese stated that the House is arguing for increased funding for the Nigerian Defense Academy, the National Identity Management Commission, and the National Youth Service Corps in the 2025 budget proposal, noting that other government organizations would probably gain from this as well.
The legislator encouraged Nigerians to be optimistic, pointing out that the current suffering experienced nationwide will soon give way to national prosperity, while restating the Speaker Tajudeen Abbas-led House’s dedication to contributing to the creation of a new Nigeria.
“In the 2025 budget proposal, we are advocating for increased funding for the Nigerian Defense Academy, the National Identity Management Commission, and the National Youth Service Corps,” he stated. This is probably going to help other government entities as well.
“In recent years, NIMC has grown to be a vital government organization. Many Nigerians might not be aware of the agency’s importance, yet without enabling that commission, we cannot discuss a national data bank.
Given the NYSC scheme’s contribution to the country’s workforce needs in both the public and private sectors, he believes the time has come to reform it.
The decision to seek sufficient financing for corps flooringcorps was influenced by the NYSC’s principle, which must be upheld. Although it is too soon to reveal the sum we have decided upon, it is crucial to remember that the National Assembly is not pleased with the NYSC’s current situation.
We have to fund it better to suit the demands of corps members. They made significant contributions to the country during their years of service in ways that are difficult to articulate,” he continued.
“They developed a strong forecast for 2025, but they can only meet it if they are given the authority to train their employees and purchase the newest technology that is essential to their job. The government and security agencies will find it challenging to fight terrorism without the NIMC.”
“At a time terrorists continue to come up with new strategies despite the gallantry of our troops; we cannot but devise means to outwit them,” he said in support of the NDA.
Increasing the resources allocated to the organizations tasked with enhancing our security forces’ ability to address new security threats is one method to do this.
In the midst of all of this, we also discovered that the budget envelope system is insufficient to cover the majority of these agencies’ capital expenditure requirements.
“Recall that Bello Matawalle, the Minister of State for Defense, bemoaned the meager N50 billion allotment in the 2025 budget proposal when he went before the House Committee on Defense to defend the ministry’s budget. For other government agencies, the situation is the same.”
The House has agreed to an upward revision of their budget forecasts, he added, adding that foreign embassies should be commended for their contributions to the country.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu gave the Ministry of Foreign Affairs N66.88 billion for capital expenditures and N286.88 billion for recurring (non-debt) expenditures in the 2025 Appropriation Bill, which was delivered to the National Assembly on December 18, 2024.
The ministry and its missions should receive at least N500 billion, even if the Federal Government might not be able to accomplish this in a single fiscal year.
This is in accordance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the parliamentaryly approved Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. The effect of the volatile currency rate must also be taken into account.