The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, on Monday told the Senate that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has not borrowed N80 trillion, contrary to widespread claims in the public space.
Oyedele made the clarification during an economic review session organised by the Senate Committee on Finance amid rising public concern over Nigeria’s growing debt profile and worsening economic hardship.
He said the increase in Nigeria’s public debt stock was largely due to factors such as naira depreciation, revaluation of foreign loans, and the formal recognition of inherited liabilities, rather than fresh borrowing by the current administration.
“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.
According to him, over N40 trillion was added to the country’s debt stock following the depreciation of the naira, which significantly increased the naira value of Nigeria’s foreign currency-denominated obligations.
He explained that the foreign exchange component of the debt had to be revalued after currency reforms, leading to a sharp rise in the reported figures.
Oyedele also identified the securitisation of “Ways and Means” advances obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria under the previous administration as another major contributor to the increase in debt.
He said about N33 trillion was added to the official debt stock after the National Assembly approved the conversion of those advances into formal debt.
The minister further clarified that approvals granted by the National Assembly for borrowing should not be mistaken for actual loans already drawn by the government.
“Approval is not the same as borrowing. There is often confusion because people assume that once approval is given, the money has been taken. That is not always the case,” he added.
Earlier, Senator Tahir Monguno raised concerns over the slow pace of budget implementation despite improved revenue generation by government agencies.
Monguno noted that the 2025 budget had not been fully implemented, with a significant portion of capital expenditure rolled over into the 2026 fiscal year.
“If revenue agencies are exceeding their targets, then budget implementation should also improve. Failure to implement an Appropriation Act is a breach of the law and an impeachable offence,” he said.
The lawmaker also queried the distribution of Federation Account Allocation Committee revenues, questioning why about N1.7 trillion was reportedly retained out of the N3.7 trillion accrued to the Federation Account.
Similarly, Senator Adamu Aliero claimed that while former President Muhammadu Buhari borrowed about N75 trillion, the Tinubu administration had also borrowed between N75 trillion and N80 trillion, insisting that budget implementation remained below expectations.
In response, Oyedele said he was not familiar with the specific figures cited but maintained that allocations from FAAC under the current administration had not fallen below N2 trillion.
Speaking at the session, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, said the success of government economic reforms would ultimately be measured by their impact on the welfare of Nigerians.
Musa said the National Assembly was considering a new budgeting framework to address recurring expenditure challenges and improve fiscal efficiency.
He also called for stronger coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities to ensure economic stability.
According to him, the Senate may revisit aspects of the previous payment system by decentralising some processes while maintaining oversight by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to fast-track payments and improve efficiency.