As President Bola Tinubu prepares to present the 2025 budget to the National Assembly this week, the Senate on Tuesday approved the 2025–2027 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), which had been submitted earlier by the President
The Senate’s approval followed the adoption of a report presented during plenary by the joint Committees on Finance and National Planning & Economic Affairs, chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East).
In addition to approving the MTEF and FSP, the Senate mandated several of its committees to investigate reports from the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission, which alleged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had withheld N8.48 trillion in petrol subsidy claims.
The investigation will also address findings from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which reported that NNPCL failed to remit $2 billion (approximately N3.6 trillion) in taxes to the Federal Government.
The Senate further directed its committees to verify the total cumulative amount of unremitted revenue (under-recovery) from the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, by NNPCL between 2020 and 2023.
Additionally, the relevant committees were tasked with investigating agreements made by NNPCL, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), and Immigration Services, with the aim of reconciling remittances to the Federation Account.
Regarding the three-year fiscal projections, the Senate set the exchange rate at N1,400 per US dollar for 2025, 2026, and 2027. The oil benchmark prices were pegged at $75 per barrel for 2025, $76.20 for 2026, and $75.30 for 2027.
The Senate also projected a significant increase in domestic crude oil production, from 1.78 million barrels per day (bpd) in the previous year to 2.06 million bpd in 2025, 2.10 million bpd in 2026, and 2.35 million bpd in 2027.
