The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly rejected the 2025 national budget proposed by President Bola Tinubu, describing it as "anti-people" and warning that it could further plunge Nigeria into economic hardship and insecurity.
In a statement issued by Debo Ologunagba, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, the PDP criticized the president’s budget speech for lacking substantive solutions to the nation's economic challenges.
On Wednesday, President Tinubu presented the N49.7 trillion appropriation bill, titled the "Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace and Rebuilding Prosperity," before the joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives.
The proposed budget includes N34.82 trillion in projected revenue, with N15.81 trillion set aside for debt servicing.
The president projected that inflation would drop from 34.6% to 15% and that the naira’s exchange rate would improve from about N1,700 to N1,500 per US dollar, with crude oil production set at 2.06 million barrels per day.
However, Ologunagba blasted the president's budget, saying that it made no meaningful provisions for the real drivers of the national economy, such as agriculture, electricity, and small businesses.
He described Tinubu's speech as "campaign rhetoric laced with unsubstantiated economic statistics" and criticized the government for offering false promises without any tangible plans to address the most pressing issues facing the country.
"The PDP states that the budget address sounded more like a campaign rhetoric laced with unsubstantiated economic statistics, false promises, and conjured performance claims without clear-cut operable steps and mechanisms to address insecurity, resuscitate the economy, revamp ailing industries, shore up food production, increase the value of the naira, reduce the overall cost of living, create jobs for our youths, and guarantee better living standards for citizens," the statement read.
The PDP also expressed disappointment that President Tinubu did not use the budget to make provisions aimed at reducing the cost of fuel, food items, electricity tariffs, and other essential goods and services that directly impact Nigerians' well-being.
"President Tinubu dashed the hope of millions of suffering Nigerians who expected him to use the 2025 budget to make strategic provisions that will lead to the reduction in the cost of fuel, food items, electricity tariffs, and other essential goods and services that have a direct bearing on the well-being of the people," the PDP said.
The opposition party further criticized the president’s claim of an 85% performance of the 2024 budget without offering a breakdown of recurrent and capital expenditures. They also rejected the president’s assertions that the economy had improved under his leadership, highlighting the stark contrast between the claims and the reality of widespread poverty, poor infrastructure, and high inflation.
In rejecting the president's projections for the 2025 budget, the PDP described them as unrealistic and without any clear foundation for investment in productive sectors.
The party warned that the N47.9 trillion budget, with N15.8 trillion allocated for debt servicing, would be financed by higher taxes and levies on struggling Nigerians.
In light of the concerns, the PDP called on the National Assembly to reject the 2025 budget as presented and use its legislative powers to revise the budget in favor of the country’s economic growth and the welfare of its people.
