The Federal Government has rejected claims that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration borrowed nearly ₦80 trillion within its first three years in office, describing the figures as misleading and the result of accounting adjustments, naira depreciation and debt revaluation, rather than fresh borrowing. The clarification was given by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, during a Senate Committee on Finance session.
The Federal Government has dismissed reports suggesting that the Tinubu administration accumulated almost ₦80 trillion in new debt within its first three years in office.
Speaking before the Senate Committee on Finance, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said the figures being circulated were exaggerated and failed to account for major accounting and exchange-rate adjustments that significantly increased Nigeria’s reported debt stock.
According to Oyedele, Nigeria’s public debt stood at about ₦75 trillion when the current administration assumed office.
He explained that the sharp depreciation of the naira substantially increased the naira value of Nigeria’s foreign currency-denominated debt, adding more than ₦40 trillion to the debt profile through exchange-rate revaluation rather than new borrowing.
The minister also pointed to the ₦33 trillion Ways and Means advances obtained under the previous administration and later securitised following approval by the National Assembly.
He stressed that the exercise merely converted existing liabilities into formal public debt and should not be interpreted as money newly borrowed by the Tinubu administration.
Oyedele maintained that the actual amount borrowed by the current administration is “nowhere near” the figures being reported.
He added that much of the government’s domestic borrowing has been used to refinance maturing obligations and that loans obtained under the administration have largely been directed toward infrastructure and other productive investments while maintaining debt sustainability.
The clarification comes amid growing public debate over Nigeria’s rising debt profile and fiscal management. While the government insists the reported figures have been misunderstood, discussions over public borrowing and budget transparency are expected to remain central issues in the country’s economic and political discourse.