Amid growing public anxiety over Nigeria’s rising debt burden, widespread economic hardship and concerns over whether the country is taking on more obligations than it can sustain, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele has moved to clarify the figures surrounding the country’s debt profile, insisting that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has not borrowed the N80 trillion being widely circulated in public discourse.
Oyedele, who spoke yesterday during an economic review session organised by the Senate Committee on Finance, said the apparent increase in Nigeria’s public debt stock had largely been misunderstood, explaining that a significant portion of the rise was caused by the revaluation of existing foreign currency obligations, the formal recognition of inherited liabilities and other accounting adjustments rather than fresh borrowing.
However, Oyedele said the figures being compared in the public space did not present the complete picture of how Nigeria’s debt position evolved.
“When this administration came into office, public debt was around N75 trillion. Many people simply compare the number before and the number now and conclude that this government has borrowed so much. That is not correct,” he said.
According to him, the increase in the debt stock cannot be attributed solely to new borrowing by the current administration.
He explained that more than N40 trillion was added to Nigeria’s debt figure following the depreciation of the naira and the consequent revaluation of the country’s foreign currency-denominated obligations.
Oyedele, who noted that the foreign exchange component of Nigeria’s debt had to be adjusted following the currency reforms, resulting in a substantial increase in the reported debt figure, also pointed to the securitisation of the ways and means advances obtained by the previous administration from the Central Bank of Nigeria as another major factor responsible for the increase in Nigeria’s official debt stock.
According to him, about N33 trillion was added after the National Assembly approved the conversion of those obligations into formal debt.
He, however, challenged the assumption that all borrowing approvals granted by the National Assembly represented the money already borrowed by the government.
He said confusion often arises because approval figures are reported as if they were already drawn loans, while actual withdrawals are reported separately later.
Oyedele cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which he said was designed to expand access to education while reducing financial pressure on families.
Earlier during the session, Tahir Monguno raised concerns over the slow pace of budget implementation despite improved revenue performance by government agencies.
Monguno said that if revenue agencies could exceed their targets, there should be a corresponding improvement in the implementation of government budgets and delivery of capital projects.
He said the 2025 budget was not fully implemented, with a significant portion of capital expenditure rolled over into 2026.
The lawmaker said that failure to implement an Appropriation Act amounts to a breach of the law, describing such a breach as “an impeachable offence.”
Monguno also questioned the distribution of Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenues, asking why about N1.7 trillion was reportedly retained after about N3.7 trillion accrued to the Federation Account.
Also, Adamu Aliero indicated that former President Muhammadu Buhari borrowed N75 trillion while President Tinubu has borrowed between N75 and N80 trillion, adding that budget implementation was nowhere near its expectations.
Responding, Oyedele said he was not familiar with the specific figures but maintained that no FAAC allocation under the current administration had fallen below N2 trillion.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mohammed Sani Musa, said the ultimate measure of the government’s economic reforms would be whether they improve the welfare of Nigerians.
Musa acknowledged that introducing a new budgeting framework would require time but said taking one or two years to establish an effective system would be worthwhile.
He, however, called for greater coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities, noting that both policies must work together to achieve economic stability.
Musa, while speaking on delays associated with government payments and documentation, said the National Assembly was considering a return to aspects of the previous payment system by decentralising some processes while retaining oversight mechanisms under the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He said the move would help to speed up payments and improve efficiency.
The chairman of the committee clarified that complaints about requests for payment batch numbers were due to a misunderstanding, insisting that the payment system was functioning but required improvements.
