The Federal Government has dismissed claims that the Tinubu administration borrowed nearly ₦80 trillion in three years, insisting that Nigeria’s current public debt figures have been misunderstood due to accounting adjustments and media misinterpretation.
Speaking before the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the administration’s actual borrowing is far below the figures widely circulated in public discourse.
Oyedele explained that while Nigeria’s public debt stood at about ₦75 trillion when President Bola Tinubu assumed office, a significant portion of the increase recorded since then resulted from the revaluation of the country’s foreign debt following the depreciation of the naira.
According to him, the exchange rate adjustment alone added more than ₦40 trillion to the debt stock when foreign-denominated obligations were converted into naira for reporting purposes.
He also noted that approximately ₦33 trillion was added after the National Assembly approved the securitisation of the previous administration’s Ways and Means advances. He stressed that this represented existing obligations being formally recognised in the public debt records rather than fresh borrowing.
“The current administration has not borrowed anywhere close to the ₦80 trillion being quoted,” Oyedele said, adding that much of the domestic borrowing undertaken has been for refinancing maturing debt rather than creating new liabilities.
The minister maintained that the government has adopted a cautious borrowing strategy focused on financing critical infrastructure projects rather than recurrent or consumptive spending.
He assured lawmakers that the administration remains committed to maintaining a sustainable debt profile, describing debt as a tool that should generate economic value greater than its cost.
During the session, some senators raised concerns over the pace of implementation of the capital component of the 2026 budget.
Senator Adamu Aliero and Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno criticised the delays, with Monguno warning that failure to implement the approved capital projects could amount to a serious constitutional issue.
However, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, assured lawmakers that implementation of the capital budget would accelerate in the coming months.
Following a closed-door meeting with the minister and members of the government’s economic team, Musa disclosed that discussions also focused on improving budget management through a performance- and priority-based budgeting framework.
He added that the government is considering replacing the current envelope budgeting system while also reviewing the payment structure for contractors to improve project execution.
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