The Federal Government has said Nigeria’s debt profile is being exaggerated, declaring that borrowing under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is nowhere near the N80 trillion being reported.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, stated this on Monday while briefing the Senate Committee on Finance on the state of the nation’s economy.
Responding to Senator Adamu Aliero (APC Kebbi Central), who questioned the alleged N80 trillion debt incurred by the present administration in addition to the N75 trillion inherited, Oyedele said the figures were misleading.
He explained that the increase was due to accounting adjustments and not fresh borrowing.
“When this administration came into office, public debt was around N75 trillion. Many people simply compare that with today’s debt stock and conclude that this government has borrowed massively,” he said.
According to him, naira depreciation forced the revaluation of the foreign currency component of public debt.
“That accounting adjustment alone added more than N40 trillion to the public debt figure because Nigeria reports its debt in naira,” he explained, noting that the securitization of Ways and Means advances approved by the National Assembly.
“About N33 trillion was added to the public debt through that process. It was not new borrowing; it was simply bringing previously existing obligations onto the official debt books,” Oyedele said.
The minister insisted that borrowing under the Tinubu administration has been responsible and strictly for infrastructure.
“We see debt as leverage. Every naira and every dollar borrowed should generate more value than the amount borrowed. We remain fully committed to debt sustainability,” he added.
The committee, however, tackled the minister over non-implementation of the capital component of the 2026 budget.
Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno (APC Borno North), described the development as an impeachable offence while Senator Aliero also expressed concern over the delay.
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sani Musa (APC Niger East), intervened and assured that implementation of capital projects would soon be felt nationwide.
“Performance and priority based budgeting system is being looked at, to replace the envelope system and also reverting back to old system of payments for contractors,” Musa said after a closed-door session with the economic team.