No Plenary for Two Weeks – National Assembly
As the National Assembly begins its examination of the N49.7 trillion 2025 budget at the committee level starting January 7, the Senate has announced a two-week suspension of plenary sessions upon its resumption on January 14.
Thursday of this week has been designated as an open day for budget consideration, which will include contributions from various stakeholders, alongside heads of different ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, made this statement during a meeting with chairpersons of other Senate standing committees. He noted that January 31, 2025, is the tentative date set for laying the reports on the 2025 Appropriation Bill before both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
At the meeting, which included several chairpersons of Senate standing committees and principal officers such as Deputy Leader Senator Lola Ashiru (APC, Kwara South) and Senate Whip Senator Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North), it was emphasized that the timeframe for the consideration and passage of the 2025 budget by the National Assembly is limited, but every effort will be made to maximize its effectiveness.
“Prior to this meeting with the chairpersons of various standing committees, the Appropriation Committee convened for several hours to discuss the best approach to handle the 2025 budget, which was presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, by President Bola Tinubu and passed for second reading by both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday, December 19, 2024.
“To facilitate a thorough and efficient review, hard copies of the budget proposals have been distributed to the chairpersons of various committees for reference during budget defense sessions with the heads of the MDAs under their jurisdiction.
“The preliminary timetable drafted for the budget at the committee level indicates that budget defense sessions will begin tomorrow (Tuesday), while reports from various committees are expected to be submitted between January 15 and 18.
“Following this, the Appropriation Committee will compile and finalize the various reports, with the aim of laying the final budget report before the Senate on January 31. However, the January 31 deadline for laying the budget is tentative and meant to guide our work,” he stated.
The Senator Adeola-led committee subsequently held a closed-door session with the chairpersons of the various standing committees in the Senate.
