The Federal Government has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has borrowed about ₦80 trillion, describing the figures circulating in public as misleading….
The Federal Government has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has borrowed about ₦80 trillion, describing the figures circulating in public as misleading.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, told the Senate Committee on Finance that much of the increase in Nigeria’s public debt resulted from the revaluation of foreign debt following the naira’s depreciation and the recognition of liabilities inherited from the previous administration, rather than fresh borrowing.
Speaking during an interactive session with lawmakers at the National Assembly, Oyedele explained that the Tinubu administration had not drawn even half of the external loans approved by the National Assembly.
“Many people assume that once the National Assembly approves a borrowing plan, the money has already been borrowed. That is not the case,” he said, noting that approvals under the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework merely authorise borrowing up to a specified limit when necessary.
He revealed that while lawmakers approved about $20 billion in external borrowing last year, the government had utilised less than half of the amount.
Responding to concerns over Nigeria’s growing debt profile, Oyedele said public debt stood at about ₦75 trillion when President Tinubu assumed office, but exchange rate reforms significantly inflated the naira value of the country’s foreign debt.
According to him, the depreciation of the naira added more than ₦40 trillion to the debt stock through accounting revaluation, while another ₦33 trillion resulted from the securitisation of Ways and Means advances obtained by the previous administration from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“It was not new borrowing; it was simply bringing previously existing obligations onto the official debt books,” he said.
The minister also clarified that much of the government’s domestic borrowing involves refinancing maturing debts rather than raising new obligations.
He stressed that all borrowing by the current administration complies with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which permits borrowing only for capital projects and human development.
Oyedele said the government remained committed to maintaining debt sustainability, adding that every loan must generate greater economic value than its cost.
He also defended continued borrowing despite improvements in government revenue, explaining that higher expenditure—including debt servicing, implementation of the new national minimum wage, salary adjustments and funding for programmes such as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND)—still required budget financing.
More than one million students have benefited from the education loan scheme, he noted.
Highlighting the administration’s economic performance, the minister said Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, while tax revenue reached ₦21.6 trillion in the first half of the year, a 49 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2025.
He added that non-oil taxes now account for 76 per cent of total tax revenue, external reserves have risen above $51 billion—the highest level in 17 years—and inflation has begun to ease.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, described the minister’s presentation as the most comprehensive financial briefing the committee had received since its inauguration.
He, however, called for greater transparency on Nigeria’s debt profile, budget implementation and the impact of import duty waivers on food prices.
