The Nigerian Economic Summit Group has raised concerns over the 2025 federal budget, labeling it inadequate to address Nigeria’s pressing social and infrastructure demands, despite increased overall spending compared to prior years.
In its latest report, titled “2025 FGN Budget Analysis: Can The Budget Deliver a Major Economic Boost”, the NESG highlighted that public investment remains a low priority, treated as a “residual budget item” allocated only surplus funds after recurrent expenditures.
This approach, the group warned, continues to hinder the implementation of critical multi-year infrastructure and social development initiatives, threatening Nigeria’s economic progress.
The marginal increase in capital expenditure for 2025 is noted, but the NESG stresses that it remains inadequate to address Nigeria’s significant infrastructure deficit.
According to the report, in the 2025 budget, the federal government allocated N27.96 trillion (50.8%) for recurrent spending, which includes debt servicing and other operational costs.
In contrast, capital expenditure, focusing on vital public investments and social infrastructure, was allocated 49.2% of the budget.
This split highlights the challenge of balancing immediate operational needs with long-term infrastructure development.
The NESG described the capital expenditure share as “commendable” compared to historical trends but stressed that the absolute figures remain too small relative to the country’s infrastructure deficit.
“There is a pressing need to further increase capital spending share and absolute size to effectively bridge Nigeria’s current infrastructure gap,” the NESG stated.
The Group expressed concerns about Nigeria’s low per capita public spending, particularly in comparison to other similar economies.
The Group also expressed concerns about Nigeria’s low per capita public spending, particularly in relation to peer economies.
With a 2025 budget of N54.99 trillion (roughly US$36.7 billion) and a population of approximately 230 million, Nigeria’s per capita allocation amounts to just N239,087 (around US$159.4) annually.
This is far below South Africa’s per capita public spending of about US$1,957 and also lags behind the average of US$800 per person in comparable economies.
In crucial sectors such as health and education, budget allocations remain alarmingly low.
For 2025, the federal government has allocated just N2.38 trillion (US$1.49 billion) for health services and under N2.59 trillion (US$1.62 billion) for education.
The NESG cautioned that such underfunding in key areas could have lasting negative impacts on Nigeria’s economic competitiveness, human capital development, and efforts to reduce poverty.
“These figures indicate that Nigeria’s budgetary provisions are grossly inadequate to address pressing social and infrastructure needs,” the Group noted.
Nigeria faces significant challenges in bridging its infrastructure gap and investing in its rapidly growing population.
