FG Dismisses ₦80trn Borrowing Claims

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, said Nigeria’s public debt stood at about ₦75 trillion when the Bola Tinubu administration assumed office, but subsequent reforms and the depreciation of the naira significantly increased the naira value of the country’s external debt.

The Federal Government has dismissed claims that the President Bola Tinubu administration has borrowed about ₦80 trillion in three years, describing the figures as exaggerated and based on accounting adjustments rather than fresh loans.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, made the clarification while briefing the Senate Committee on Finance today on the state of the nation’s economy.

Responding to concerns raised by lawmakers over reports that the current administration had borrowed about ₦80 trillion in addition to the ₦75 trillion debt it inherited, the minister told the committee that the figures being circulated by commentators and reported in some sections of the media did not reflect the actual level of new borrowing.

According to him, Nigeria’s public debt stood at about ₦75 trillion when the Tinubu administration assumed office, but subsequent reforms and the depreciation of the naira significantly increased the naira value of the country’s external debt.

“When this administration came into office, public debt was around ₦75 trillion. Many people simply compare that figure with today’s debt stock and conclude that this government has borrowed massively.

“However, following the reforms and the depreciation of the naira, the foreign currency component of our public debt had to be revalued because Nigeria reports its debt in naira. That accounting adjustment alone added more than ₦40 trillion to the public debt figure,” he said.

The minister also explained that the securitisation of the Ways and Means advances approved by the National Assembly added about ₦33 trillion to the public debt stock, asserting that the amount did not represent new borrowing but existing obligations that were formally recognised.

However, members of the Senate Committee expressed concern over what they described as poor implementation of the capital component of the 2026 budget.