Edun said this during an interactive session of the Senate Joint Committees on Finance and National Planning and Economic Affairs on the 2025-2027 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper.
According to him, the borrowing needs to be done productively and efficiently based on the Senate’s approval for proper funding of the budget.
Giving a similar reason, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu reminded the lawmakers that the borrowing plans contained in the N35.5 trillion 2024 budget, were primarily meant to fund the N9.7 trillion deficit.
He said despite revenue targets surpassing by some of the revenue generating agencies , government still needs to borrow for proper funding of the budget , particularly in the area of deficit and productivity for the poorest and most vulnerable .
Meanwhile, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ,EFCC, and the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission maintain that if the Federal Government is serious, there would be no need to borrow to fund the nation’s budget.
Read Also: Tinubu may present 2025 budget this week – Senate
The Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, who told the committee that it has recovered over N197 billion since January 2024, noted that if the government works hard and derives the requisite collection from the IOC’s, the country would have enough to fund the budget.
The Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi, in his presentation, disclosed that the Customs has raked in N5.352 trillion in revenue above the N5.09 trillion target for the 2024 fiscal year.
He added that N6.3 trillion is targeted as projected revenue for 2025, a 10% increase of which would be the revenue target for 2026 and an additional 10% increase for the 2027 fiscal year.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, in his own presentation, said the company exceeded the N12.3 trillion revenue projected for 2024 by already raking in N13.1 trillion.
He said for the 2025 fiscal year, N23.7 trillion is projected by NNPCL to be remitted into the federation account.
The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service ,FIRS, Zacch Adedeji, in his presentation, also informed the joint committees that FIRS had surpassed targeted revenues across the various tax components.