ABUJA, Nigeria — The Federal Government has dismissed claims that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has borrowed about N80 trillion in fresh debt, insisting that the sharp increase in Nigeria’s public debt from N75 trillion to over N155 trillion is largely the result of naira depreciation and accounting adjustments rather than new borrowing.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, made the clarification on Monday while briefing the Senate Committee on Finance on the state of the nation’s economy. He was responding to concerns raised by Senator Adamu Aliero (APC, Kebbi Central) over reports that the current administration had borrowed about N80 trillion in addition to the N75 trillion debt it inherited.
“When this administration came into office, public debt was around N75 trillion. Many people simply compare that figure with today’s debt stock and conclude that this government has borrowed massively,” Oyedele said.
He explained that two major factors inflated the debt figures without new borrowing. The first was the depreciation of the naira, which forced a revaluation of the foreign currency component of public debt, adding more than N40 trillion to the total because Nigeria reports its debt in naira. The second factor was the securitisation of the Ways and Means advances inherited from the previous administration, which added about N33 trillion to the debt stock after approval by the National Assembly.
“It was not new borrowing; it was simply bringing previously existing obligations onto the official debt books,” the minister said.
Oyedele added that much of the domestic borrowing under the current administration involved refinancing existing debts rather than accumulating new obligations.
“Debt that was borrowed previously matures, and government raises new debt to refinance it. That is not new borrowing,” he explained.
He assured lawmakers that the Tinubu administration had adopted a responsible borrowing strategy focused on infrastructure and long-term economic growth.
“This administration has been very responsible in its borrowing. We see debt as leverage. Every naira and every dollar borrowed should generate more value than the amount borrowed,” Oyedele said.
However, the minister came under criticism from members of the committee over what lawmakers described as poor implementation of the capital component of the 2026 budget. Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) warned that failure to implement the capital budget constituted a serious breach of constitutional responsibility, while Senator Aliero also expressed dissatisfaction over delays in releasing funds for capital projects.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East), defended the government’s fiscal management, assuring lawmakers that implementation of the capital component of the 2026 budget would improve in the coming months.
