NIGERIA’s Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, clashed over the true state of Nigeria’s debt profile on Monday, September 8.
While Abbas raised the alarm over the nation’s growing debt, which he said had risen to N149.39 trillion (about $97 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, up from N121.7 trillion the previous year, Edun projected optimism and insisted that Nigeria’s debt profile was becoming sustainable.
Abbas, who warned that the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio had climbed to 52 per cent, surpassing the 40 per cent statutory limit, urged parliaments across West Africa to strengthen oversight of public borrowing to safeguard the future of their citizens.
Both senior government officials spoke at the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC), organised by the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee on Monday, September 8, with the theme: “Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt.”
The clash between both officials was despite the alarm raised by the National Assembly barely weeks after it approved President Bola Tinubu’s external borrowing plan of over $21 billion for the 2025–2026 fiscal cycle, including $21.19 billion in foreign loans, €4 billion, ¥15 billion, a $65 million grant and domestic borrowing of about N757 billion.
The approval, recommended by both the House and Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, also included provisions to raise $2 billion through a foreign-currency-denominated instrument in the domestic market.
“As of the first quarter of 2025, Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N149.39 trillion, equivalent to about US$97 billion. This represents a sharp rise from N121.7 trillion the previous year, underscoring how quickly the burden has grown. Even more concerning is the debt-to-GDP ratio, which now stands at roughly 52 per cent, well above the statutory ceiling of 40 per cent set by our own laws”, Abbas said.
Stressing that Nigeria’s debt profile had reached a critical level, Abbas, represented by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbhere, said this has breached the nation’s debt limit and signaled the strain on fiscal sustainability.
According to the Speaker, the development highlights the urgent need for stronger oversight, transparent borrowing practices, and a collective resolve to ensure that tangible economic and social returns match every naira borrowed.
He warned that across Africa, debt had become a structural crisis, with several countries spending more on servicing loans than on healthcare and other essential services.
He highlighted the structure of Africa’s debt, noting that 35 per cent was owed to Western private lenders, 39 per cent to multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, 13 per cent to bilateral creditors, and 12 per cent to China.
The Speaker stressed that borrowing should be targeted at infrastructure, health, education, and job-creating industries, warning that reckless debt that fueled consumption or corruption must be exposed and rejected.
“Our oversight must also be people-driven. Major borrowing proposals should be subject to public hearings, and simplified debt reports must be made available to the public. Citizens have the right to know, and we have the duty to inform,” he stated.
Edun, however, painted a more reassuring picture, noting that Nigeria was turning the corner under Tinubu’s reforms.
He said the country’s debt service-to-revenue ratio dropped to about 60 per cent in 2024, while the debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 38.8 per cent, a level he described as comfortable compared to global benchmarks.
Revenues, he added, rose by 34.7 per cent in the first half of 2025.
The minister acknowledged that Nigeria, like many countries in West Africa, faced significant fiscal challenges, including elevated debt service costs, constrained revenues, and rising demands for public spending and rigorous oversight from parliamentarians such as you, especially public accounts and finance committees,” Edun said.
He described Nigeria’s fiscal trajectory as a turning point, with reforms providing the foundation for stability, competitiveness, and inclusive growth.
The ICIR reports that Nigeria will face a worsening debt burden in the coming year as the Federal Government has projected a rise in the debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio to 60 per cent by 2027.
The country had a debt-to-GDP ratio of 52.25 per cent as of December 2024, now expected to rise by 7.75 per cent.
With Nigeria’s debt surge, there are also growing fears of sovereign default, the possibility that Nigeria might struggle to meet its debt obligations, The ICIR reported.
Nigeria’s fiscal position has deteriorated significantly over the past decade, with public debt rising, driven largely by currency devaluation and persistent fiscal deficits.
“FGN’s public debt has continued to skyrocket. In just two years of this administration, the debt has doubled what the previous administration accumulated in eight years,” said Adonri, Vice Chairman at Highcap Securities, David Adonri.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.