LABOUR Party presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has again expressed concern about the federal government’s borrowing pattern, which he said is driving the country deeper into debt without yielding positive governance or human development benefits.
Obi said in a statement on Tuesday, July 29, urging the government to consider the rising public debts amid deepening poverty Nigerians are facing and the erosion of public trust.
The ICIR reported on Monday that the former Anambra State Governor had claimed the President Bola Tinubu’s government is feeding Nigerians with incorrect statistics.
He cited the declining unemployment rate, inflation, and gross domestic product figures, but did not substantiate his concerns with data and information.
Obi’s concern is coming barely two days after the African Democratic Congress (ADC) condemned what it described as the “fiscal vandalism” of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, following the National Assembly’s approval of the $21 billion in foreign loans.
The party had worried that the new borrowing spree could drive Nigeria’s public debt beyond N200 trillion by the end of the year without any visible economic gains to show for it.
In his statement on Tuesday, July 29, Obi drove home his points.
He noted that on July 22, the Nigerian Senate approved an additional $21 billion, €2.2 billion, ¥15 billion of external borrowing for the 2025–2026 fiscal cycle.
The chamber also approved a N750.98 billion domestic bond issuance and a €65 million grant.
“With an already existing public debt of about N149.39 trillion as at the first quarter of 2025, adding the approved loans of about N37.2 trillion) brings our current total debt to approximately N187 trillion, with concerns that our debt might exceed N200 trillion by the end of 2025.
“As our GDP before rebasing was about N269.2 trillion (about $180 billion), the government has borrowed the equivalent of nearly 70% of our previous GDP. Even after the rebasing, which pushed our GDP to about N372.8 trillion (about $243 7billion), the government would have borrowed about 50.16 % of the new GDP (with the approved loans), the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in our history as a nation,” Obi explained.
He pointed out that while the year-on-year increase is about N27.72 trillion, the quarter-on-quarter increase is about N4.72 trillion.
“We are accumulating very exponential levels of unsustainable debt with little or nothing to show for it in critical areas such as education, healthcare, electricity generation, security of lives and property, and pulling people out of poverty.
“We still rank low in all major human development indicators. While education is underfunded and standard in continuous decline, healthcare remains inaccessible to millions of Nigerians, particularly the poor,” Obi said.
He expressed his worries that the security of lives and property has deteriorated with over 10,217 people killed and 672 villages sacked between May 29, 2023, and May 29, 2025, even when security spending has significantly increased from N2.98 trillion in 2023 to N4.91 trillion in 2025.
He further cited that infrastructure decay persists across the country, with approximately 135,000 kilometres (km) of the 195,000 km of roads remaining unpaved, largely unmotorable, and unusable.
He stressed also that it is the same depressing situation in almost all sectors of the economy, with the power sector an unquestionable example, with less than 5,000 megawatts (MW) supplied for over 200 million Nigerians.
“Today, over two years after the present government took over and with all the humongous borrowing, we are still confronted with negative reports of worsening poverty with about 133 million (63%) Nigerians classified as multi-dimensionally poor, increasing unemployment and disheartening news like 652 children dead as the malnutrition crisis worsens in Northern Nigeria,” Obi stated.
He noted that Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a non-governmental organisation known as Doctors Without Borders, has just sounded the alarm over an escalating malnutrition crisis in Northern Nigeria, with Katsina State emerging as one of the worst-hit areas.
“This is a country blessed with enormous resources, yet nobody should go to bed hungry. Still, a persistent deficiency in leadership has thrown the majority of our citizens into increasing multi-dimensional poverty,” Obi maintained.
He holds the view that borrowing is not inherently bad if it is sustainable and tied to productive investments with measurable outcomes.
He, however, said it is unfortunate that the current pattern of borrowing without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact is simply mortgaging the future of Nigeria’s children.
“The government should consider the inter-generational consequences of its unsustainable borrowings and show at least a minimum consideration and interest in the future of young and unborn Nigerians.
“We must return to a disciplined and prudent economic management culture, cutting the cost of governance, blocking leakages, investing in human capital, and building a productive economy. Nigeria cannot continue to borrow recklessly while poverty deepens and public trust erodes,” Obi urged.
He believes the time for the government to stop the fiscal indiscipline is now.
“We must build a New Nigeria, where leadership is responsible, development is people-centred, and every kobo borrowed or spent delivers a measurable impact to achieve sustainable and inclusive development and growth,” he added.