The President of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES), Professor Adeola Adenikinju, has urged the Federal Government to prioritize direct cash transfers to the poor while ramping up capital spending in the 2025 budget.
Speaking during an interactive session with the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Professor Adenikinju described these measures as pivotal for alleviating poverty and driving sustainable economic growth.

The session, held in Abuja on Thursday, was part of deliberations on the proposed ₦49.7 trillion ‘Budget of Restoration,’ which President Bola Tinubu submitted in December 2024.
The budget aims to tackle Nigeria’s economic challenges while laying the groundwork for structural reforms.
“Targeted cash transfers to the poor can deliver immediate relief to millions facing economic hardship,” Professor Adenikinju said. “At the same time, increased investment in infrastructure and other capital projects will stimulate job creation and boost long-term economic productivity.”
The NES president also highlighted Nigeria’s pressing revenue challenges, stressing that the government must implement bold, innovative measures to unlock economic potential and stabilize the fiscal environment.
The interactive session featured contributions from lawmakers, economic experts, and civil society organizations. Senator Adeola Olamilekan, Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, commended the budget’s ambition, calling it “a roadmap to economic restoration.”
He affirmed the Senate’s commitment to supporting President Tinubu’s administration in addressing revenue shortfalls and stabilizing the economy.
“The projections in this budget are daring but achievable. We are focused on delivering an economic framework that fosters growth and inclusion,” Senator Olamilekan stated.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio reinforced this optimism, pledging the 10th Senate’s dedication to the administration’s fiscal agenda. However, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, cautioned against relying solely on cash transfers to combat poverty. He emphasized policies that promote business growth and entrepreneurship as more sustainable poverty-alleviation strategies.
“Empowering businesses is the key to creating jobs and reducing poverty on a large scale,” Bagudu argued. “While cash transfers provide short-term relief, our focus must remain on strengthening the private sector and fostering economic activity.”
This stakeholders’ meeting marks a historic approach to fiscal planning in the National Assembly, fostering collaboration among lawmakers, economists, and civil society. Participants agreed that balancing social welfare initiatives with robust capital investment is crucial to achieving the goals of the 2025 budget.
As the Senate works toward finalizing the fiscal plan, the session underscored the importance of building consensus on policies that can deliver both immediate and long-term economic benefits.
The 2025 budget presents an opportunity to not only address Nigeria’s current challenges but also lay the foundation for a more inclusive and resilient economic future.

**distances himself from Tinubu’s government as Falana emphasizes legal clarity on Kano’s single Emirate

In a fiery critique of Nigeria’s economic trajectory, former Emir of Kano, Dr. Muhammad Sanusi II, has attributed the nation’s financial struggles to decades of poor economic policies and mismanagement. Speaking at the 21st Memorial Lecture in honor of late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Sanusi lamented the lack of competent hands in the current administration to drive economic recovery.

Sanusi, a respected economist and former Central Bank Governor, made it clear that he no longer supports or engages with the Tinubu administration’s economic policies. “I don’t want to help this government. They are my friends, but if they don’t behave like friends, I won’t act like one. They lack credible individuals who can articulate their strategies,” he stated.

The ex-Emir also emphasized that the current economic challenges were inevitable outcomes of long-standing fiscal irresponsibility, warning that failure to address systemic issues would lead to further hardship.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) reiterated that Kano State is legally bound to have only one Emir. Speaking at the same event, Falana congratulated the 16th Emir of Kano on his victory at the Court of Appeal, stressing that traditional rulership is not a matter of fundamental human rights but rather of state law.

“The Court of Appeal has spoken. Any further challenges to the ruling will likely end the same way at the Supreme Court,” Falana stated, urging the Nigerian Bar Association to uphold the rule of law in such matters.

The lecture, attended by prominent legal and political figures, highlighted the late Fawehinmi’s enduring legacy of truth and justice in Nigerian society. As the debate on governance and tradition continues, the call for competent leadership and respect for the law remains at the forefront of national discourse.

Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced plans to include previously unaccounted-for illegal and hidden activities in its GDP calculations.
This ground breaking move aims to provide a more accurate picture of the economy, which has seen a decline in global ranking, falling to the fourth-largest in Africa.

The new GDP framework will incorporate activities such as black-market dealings, the digital economy, and household labor, alongside conventional sectors.
Senior NBS official Moses Waniko highlighted the economic impact of informal and even illegal activities, like prostitution, on the formal economy.
Moses Waniko, a senior official at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said the new exercise could show that Nigeria has a bigger economy than currently estimated.

“There are economic activities that have no legal backing,” he said, citing prostitution. “The practitioners earn income from them and sometimes live bigger than those in the formal sector. At the end of the day, the income earned impacts the formal economy,” Waniko said.

Waniko said a new calculation was necessary to reflect changing economic realities.

It will consider 2019 as the base year, he said, adding that new segments to be considered in the calculation include the digital economy, health and social insurance, pensions, modular refineries, mining and households employing labour.

“We expect that the size of the economy will be bigger,” he said.

“The tax-to-GDP ratio is something that people may want to see… Debt to GDP ratio of 18.5 percent as of September 2019 could also reduce with the bigger size of the GDP, and then per-capita income will increase after the rebasing.”

He said the contribution of the crude oil sector to the economy had reduced, dropping from third place to fifth.

The real estate sector is now in third place after agriculture and trade.
This recalibration, the first since 2014, could significantly expand Nigeria’s economic size, recalibrate tax and debt ratios, and potentially restore its position as Africa’s leading economy.