LAGOS, Nigeria — Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of reckless borrowing, financial mismanagement, and lack of accountability, claiming the Federal Government has driven Nigeria’s total debt to approximately N200 trillion (approximately $130 billion).
Okay News reports that Obi made the allegations in a post on his X handle on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, citing data from the Federation’s Budget Office.
Obi disclosed that the Federal Government borrowed N11.89 trillion in the first three quarters of 2025, from January to September, exceeding its own planned borrowing target of N10.34 trillion by approximately N1.54 trillion.
“Under a responsible and accountable government, such an overshoot would necessitate rigorous scrutiny and explanation from relevant governmental bodies. Regrettably, this is not the reality under the current administration,” Obi said.
Obi noted that of the N17.58 trillion earmarked for capital projects, only N3.10 trillion, which represents 17.66%, was actually allocated. This leaves a deficit of approximately N14.488 trillion, or 82.34% of planned capital expenditure, completely unfunded.
The former Anambra State governor questioned where the balance of borrowed funds was deployed and demanded transparency, asking whether unspent funds were channelled into recurrent expenditure, used for entertainment at Aso Rock, or diverted to what he called a “Renewed Hope Agenda 2027 Election Campaign Fund.”
“The most disturbing aspect of the financial management fiasco under Bola Tinubu is that there is no explanation or information regarding how the balance was utilised or deployed. The question that Nigerians are rightly asking and deserve an answer to is what happened to the balance?” Obi said.
Dele Oye, Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics, noted that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at ₦159.28 trillion as of April 2026, according to the Debt Management Office, meaning every single Nigerian owes approximately N670,000 (approximately $435).
Oye said the Tinubu administration borrowed N65.9 trillion in the last 24 months, exceeding more than five times the total debt Nigeria incurred in the first 55 years of its independence.
Oye noted that President Olusegun Obasanjo paid $12 billion to extinguish $30 billion in Paris Club debt in 2006, making Nigeria briefly externally debt-free. Under President Goodluck Jonathan, debt rose to N12.06 trillion by 2015. During President Buhari’s eight-year tenure, debt exploded from N12.06 trillion to N87.38 trillion, a 620% increase.
Oye cautioned that Nigeria’s debt service-to-revenue ratio stood at 116.8% in 2024, easing only slightly to 113% in Q1 2025. In January 2025 alone, the CBN’s data showed the Federal Government paying N696.27 billion in debt service against total retained revenue of N483.47 billion.
Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio stands at 8.2%, the lowest among major African economies, compared with 24% in South Africa, 16% in Kenya, and 13% in Ghana.
The 2026 Appropriation Act, signed by President Tinubu in April 2026, totals N68.32 trillion. Of this, N15.8 trillion is earmarked for debt servicing alone, exceeding the entire N15.4 trillion budgeted for recurrent non-debt expenditure. The fiscal deficit in the 2026 budget is projected at approximately ₦25.3 trillion, roughly 4.5% of GDP, well above the 3% ceiling mandated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
