Nigeria will continue to borrow when necessary-Tinubu

Says ‘borrowing is not leprosy, we just have to work hard to be able to pay for it’

President Bola Tinubu says his administration will continue to borrow whenever necessary, insisting that it should not be viewed negatively.

Tinubu spoke on Wednesday at the State House during a meeting with Plateau leaders led by Caleb Mutfwang, the governor, and Nentawe Yilwatda, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

“If we have to borrow, we borrow. Borrowing is not leprosy, we just have to work hard to be able to pay for it,” the president said.

His remarks come amid rising public concern over Nigeria’s growing debt burden and the increasing share of national revenue committed to debt servicing.

Recall that the Senate on Wednesday approved 516,333,700 dollar syndicated financing facility for the construction of Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway.

This followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts during plenary on Wednesday

The approval followed a letter from President Bola Tinubu dated April 20, requesting legislative backing for external borrowing in line with the provisions of the Debt Management Office Establishment Act 2011 and the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the request was referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt on April 23.

Also, the House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the president’s request for an additional $516.3 million external loan to fund the construction of sections of the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway.

President Tinubu on March 31 requested National Assembly approval for external borrowing totalling $6 billion, including a proposed $5 billion structured financing programme from First Abu Dhabi Bank in the United Arab Emirates.

The country’s public debt consists of domestic and external debt stocks of the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) and the subnational governments — the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

On April 15, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N159.27 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, up from N153.29 trillion in the previous quarter and N144.67 trillion in the corresponding period of 2024.

The figure comprises both domestic and external debts of the federal and state governments, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

According to the DMO, total domestic debt stood at N84.84 trillion, while external debt was N74.42 trillion.

The federal government accounted for N80.48 trillion of domestic debt and $51.85 billion of external debt, while states and the FCT accounted for N8.15 trillion.

In March 2024, the DMO had said Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N97.34 trillion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, attributing the increase to new domestic borrowing by the federal government to partly fund the deficit in the 2024 budget as well as disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.