Debt: Tinubu Has Not Borrowed N80 Trillion, Oyedele Tells Senate

Amid growing public concern over Nigeria's rising debt profile, economic hardship and the sustainability of government borrowing, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu's administration borrowed N80 trillion, explaining that much of the increase in the country's debt stock is due to exchange rate adjustments and inherited liabilities rather than fresh borrowing.

Oyedele made the clarification on Monday during an economic review session organised by the Senate Committee on Finance, where he explained that the apparent surge in Nigeria's public debt has been widely misunderstood.

According to him, although Nigeria's public debt has increased significantly since the current administration assumed office, the figures do not represent new loans obtained by President Tinubu.

"When this administration came into office, public debt was around N75 trillion. Many people simply compare the figure then with what we have now and conclude that this government has borrowed massively. That is not correct," Oyedele said.

He explained that over N40 trillion was added to the debt stock following the depreciation of the naira, which required a revaluation of Nigeria's foreign currency-denominated obligations.

According to him, the foreign exchange reforms implemented by the government significantly increased the naira value of existing external debts without necessarily increasing the actual amount borrowed.

Oyedele further disclosed that another N33 trillion resulted from the securitisation of the Ways and Means advances obtained by the previous administration from the Central Bank of Nigeria after the National Assembly approved their conversion into formal public debt.

He also cautioned against interpreting every borrowing approval granted by the National Assembly as money already accessed by the government.

According to him, approval limits are often reported as though the funds have already been drawn, whereas actual disbursements occur over time and are accounted for separately.

Highlighting government efforts to ease economic pressure on citizens, Oyedele cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as one of the intervention programmes designed to expand access to education while reducing the financial burden on families.

Earlier, Senator Tahir Monguno expressed concern over the slow implementation of the national budget despite improved revenue generation by government agencies.

He argued that if revenue-generating agencies were exceeding their collection targets, there should be a corresponding improvement in budget execution and the delivery of capital projects.

Monguno noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act was not fully implemented, with a substantial portion of capital expenditure rolled over into the 2026 fiscal year.

He described the failure to implement an Appropriation Act as a violation of the law, insisting that such failure constitutes "an impeachable offence."

The senator also queried the distribution of Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenues, asking why about N1.7 trillion was reportedly retained after approximately N3.7 trillion accrued to the Federation Account.

Similarly, Senator Adamu Aliero maintained that while former President Muhammadu Buhari left office with public debt estimated at about N75 trillion, President Tinubu had also accumulated between N75 trillion and N80 trillion, adding that budget implementation remained far below expectations.

Responding, Oyedele said he was not familiar with the exact figures cited by the lawmakers but maintained that no FAAC allocation under the current administration had fallen below N2 trillion.

In his remarks, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, said the success of the Federal Government's economic reforms would ultimately be measured by their impact on the welfare of Nigerians.

He acknowledged that transitioning to a new budgeting framework would take time but stressed that spending one or two years to establish a more efficient system would be worthwhile.

Musa also called for stronger coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities, noting that both policies must work in harmony to achieve sustainable economic stability.

Speaking on delays in government payments and documentation processes, the committee chairman disclosed that the National Assembly was considering reintroducing aspects of the previous payment system by decentralising certain procedures while retaining oversight by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

According to him, the proposed adjustments are expected to accelerate government payments, improve efficiency and address concerns surrounding payment batch numbers, which he attributed largely to misunderstanding rather than systemic failure.