By Emmanuella Opara | November 8th 2026
KEY POINTS
- The Presidency has rejected claims that President Bola Tinubu borrowed N120tn in three years, describing the figures as misleading.
- It attributed the difference in reported debt figures to previously unrecognised Central Bank overdrafts and exchange-rate adjustments.
- Nigeria’s public debt increased from $113.4bn in June 2023 to about $120.9bn in June 2026, according to figures cited in the report.
- The rebuttal comes amid renewed debate over the country’s debt burden and the President’s latest request for approval of a $7.7bn external borrowing plan.
MAIN STORY
The Presidency has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu borrowed N120tn within three years, arguing that the comparison with borrowing under previous administrations fails to account for changes in debt recognition and exchange-rate valuation.
Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, rejected the figures in a statement posted on X on Sunday, describing the claims as opposition propaganda.
The disputed comparison suggests that 16 Nigerian leaders borrowed a combined N46tn over 63 years, while the Tinubu administration accumulated N120tn in three years despite removing the fuel subsidy.
Olusegun said the N46tn figure, which represented Nigeria’s debt position at the end of 2022, excluded N22.7tn in Central Bank of Nigeria Ways and Means advances. He said the overdrafts were not formally recognised in the country’s debt figures until May 2023.
He also attributed part of the difference to the exchange rate used in earlier debt calculations. According to him, foreign debt was previously converted at an exchange rate of N448 to the dollar, although the street value was above N700 at the time.
Olusegun said the unification of the exchange rate in June 2023 increased the naira value of existing foreign debt by N13.4tn without any additional dollar borrowing.
He maintained that the dollar-denominated figures provided a clearer basis for comparing the country’s debt position, stating that public debt rose from $113.4bn in June 2023 to $120.9bn in June 2026, an increase of $7.5bn.
Figures from the Debt Management Office cited in the report put Nigeria’s public debt at N87.38tn in June 2023 and N166.79tn by June 2026. The difference in the naira value was attributed largely to the exchange-rate adjustment and the securitisation of Ways and Means advances inherited from the previous administration.
The Presidency also defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying it had increased monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee to states and local governments.
Olusegun said the monthly allocation rose from N656bn in April 2023 to N2.4tn by September 2026.
The debate over borrowing has intensified following Tinubu’s latest request for Senate approval of a $7.7bn external borrowing plan to help finance the 2026 budget deficit.
The request, estimated at N10.79tn using the budget exchange rate of N1,400 to the dollar, was conveyed in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during Wednesday’s plenary.
It replaced an earlier borrowing request of $20.52bn and €1.045bn submitted to the National Assembly a week earlier.
Opposition parties, including the Nigeria Democratic Congress, have criticised the latest request, citing concerns about the country’s growing debt burden and its implications for future generations.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“But in reality, the ₦46 trillion figure from late 2022 hid ₦22.7 trillion in Central Bank ‘Ways and Means’ overdrafts that weren’t officially put on the books until May 2023,” Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, said.
“When the exchange rate was unified in June 2023, the exact same dollar debt instantly looked ₦13.4 trillion larger on paper overnight without a single new dollar being borrowed,” he said.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Senate’s consideration of the proposed $7.7bn external borrowing plan is expected to keep the debate over government borrowing and debt sustainability in focus.
BOTTOM LINE
The Presidency’s defence rests on the argument that much of the increase in Nigeria’s reported naira debt reflects exchange-rate changes and the formal recognition of inherited obligations, rather than fresh borrowing on the scale suggested by the viral comparison.
