Beneficiaries of this allocation include former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, and Muhammadu Buhari, alongside ex-vice-presidents Atiku Abubakar, Namadi Sambo, and Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
Others expected to benefit are ex-military Heads of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (retd.) and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), as well as former military President, Ibrahim Babangida and retired Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe.
President Bola Tinubu presented the 2025 budget, titled ‘Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity’, to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.
While addressing the lawmakers, President Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to strengthen national security and overhaul critical infrastructure.
According to the appropriation bill documents obtained by Saturday PUNCH, the Federal Government earmarked N1.4 trillion for pensions, gratuities, and retirees’ benefits.
Retired professors in universities are set to receive N13.5 billion, and retired heads of government agencies and parastatals would get N1 billion, bringing the total to N27 billion.
The budget further reveals that N46 billion is allocated for civilian pensions under the Office of the Head of Civil Service, while N383.9 billion is earmarked for military pensions and gratuities.
An additional N66.8 billion is budgeted for expected retirees, with N434 million allocated for administrative charges, N596 million for pension running costs, and N870 million for medical retirees.
Provisions were also made for gratuity arrears covering January 2019 to December 2021, with N2.7 billion allocated for this purpose.
Pension arrears are pegged at N1.86 billion, while N2.2 billion is set aside for death benefits accrued during the same period.
The budget earmarks N814 million for verification exercises and N43 billion for security debarment allowances, including arrears from 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Pension arrears related to minimum wage adjustments total N330 million.
A total of N24.8 billion is allocated for pensions and arrears under the Department of State Security.
Furthermore, N42 billion is allocated for the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, N10.4 billion for police pensions and gratuities, and N10.3 billion for university pensions, including arrears and N43.4 billion for parastatals and railway pensions.
The National Pension Commission is expected to receive N804.7 billion, while in the area of death benefits, N35 billion was set for deceased military personnel, N4.2 billion for civil servants, and N3.5 billion for police officers.
N500 billion for students loan, school feedings
Meanwhile, the Federal Government also earmarked a total of N500 billion for the student loan scheme and various national social investment programmes, including school feeding initiatives, for the coming year.
A sum of N50 billion was budgeted for the student loan scheme.
Data from the fund indicates that 320,837 beneficiaries received N33.9 billion for institutional fees, while 292,897 beneficiaries were granted N70.2 billion for upkeep expenses.
Similarly, in the 2025 appropriation bill, the government also voted N250 billion for the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy programmes, which include the upscaling of National Social Investment Programme.
These funds are to be disbursed under the Service-Wide Votes and Capital Supplementation, a category under the capital projects outlined for the upcoming year.
The government also allocated N100 billion each for the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme and the Consumer Credit Fund initiatives.
