By Our Reporter
ABUJA (PRECISE POST) — The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has dismissed widespread claims that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has borrowed between N75 trillion and N80 trillion, insisting that much of the increase in Nigeria’s public debt is the result of currency revaluation, inherited liabilities and accounting adjustments rather than fresh loans.
Oyedele made the clarification on Monday during an economic review session organised by the Senate Committee on Finance, amid growing public concern over Nigeria’s rising debt profile, worsening economic hardship and fears that the country may be accumulating unsustainable financial obligations.
According to the minister, comparing Nigeria’s debt stock at the beginning of the Tinubu administration with the current figure without considering the factors behind the increase creates a misleading impression.
“When this administration came into office, public debt was around N75 trillion. Many people simply compare the number before and the number now and conclude that this government has borrowed so much. That is not correct,” Oyedele said.
He explained that over N40 trillion was added to the nation’s debt profile following the depreciation of the naira, which led to the revaluation of Nigeria’s foreign currency-denominated debts.
The minister noted that the exchange rate reforms necessitated adjustments in the value of the country’s external obligations, significantly increasing the reported debt stock despite no corresponding fresh borrowing.
Oyedele also identified the securitisation of the “Ways and Means” advances obtained by the previous administration from the Central Bank of Nigeria as another major contributor to the increase in the official debt figure.
According to him, about N33 trillion was added after the National Assembly approved the conversion of those liabilities into formal public debt.
He further cautioned against the assumption that every borrowing approval granted by the National Assembly translates into money already borrowed by the Federal Government.
The minister explained that borrowing approvals merely provide legal authority to access funds when necessary, while actual loan drawdowns occur separately and are reported independently.
As part of the government’s efforts to ease economic pressure on citizens, Oyedele highlighted the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), describing it as a strategic intervention aimed at expanding access to higher education while reducing financial burdens on families.
During the session, members of the Senate Committee on Finance raised concerns over the pace of budget implementation despite improved revenue performance by government agencies.
Senator Tahir Monguno argued that stronger revenue generation should be reflected in faster execution of government projects, lamenting that the 2025 Appropriation Act was not fully implemented, with a significant portion of capital expenditure rolled over into the 2026 budget.
He warned that failure to implement an Appropriation Act amounts to a violation of the law and described such failure as “an impeachable offence.”
Monguno also sought explanations over the distribution of Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenues, questioning why about N1.7 trillion was reportedly retained after approximately N3.7 trillion accrued to the Federation Account.
Similarly, Senator Adamu Aliero expressed concerns over Nigeria’s growing debt burden, suggesting that while former President Muhammadu Buhari borrowed about N75 trillion, the Tinubu administration had also accumulated between N75 trillion and N80 trillion, adding that budget implementation remained below expectations.
Responding, Oyedele said he was not familiar with the specific figures cited by the lawmakers but maintained that allocations from the Federation Account under the current administration had consistently remained above N2 trillion.
In his remarks, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, said the true test of the Federal Government’s economic reforms would be their impact on the welfare and living standards of Nigerians.
Musa acknowledged that implementing a new budgeting framework would require time but maintained that investing one or two years in building an effective fiscal system would ultimately benefit the country.
He also advocated closer coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities, stressing that both policy directions must complement each other to deliver sustainable economic stability.
On concerns over delays in government payments, Musa disclosed that the National Assembly was considering reforms that would decentralise certain payment processes while retaining oversight by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
According to him, the proposed changes are expected to accelerate payments, improve efficiency and eliminate delays associated with documentation, while clarifying that complaints over payment batch numbers stemmed largely from misunderstandings rather than failures of the existing payment system.
