Peter Obi tackles Tinubu's govt over Nigeria’s rising debt burden

The 2023 Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over Nigeria’s rising debt burden.

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In a post on his X handle on Tuesday, Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, said Mr Tinubu’s government has been on a borrowing spree over the last two years.

‘Unsustainable debt’

On 22 July, the Nigerian Senate approved the 2025-2026 external borrowing plan of 21.5 billion dollars presented by Mr Tinubu for consideration.

Also approved by the Senate was a loan request of 15 billion Japanese Yen and a 65 million Euros grant.

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The federal lawmakers also approved the issuance of Federal Government Bond of N757 billion for payment of accrued rights pension arrears as at December 2023 for the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

They equally approved Mr Tinubu’s request of capital raising of up to two billion dollars through a foreign currency-denominated instrument in the domestic market.

Reacting, Mr Obi lamented that under Mr Tinubu, Nigeria has been accumulating “very exponential levels of unsustainable debt” without commensurate impact on critical areas of development such as education, security and healthcare.

“With an already existing public debt of about N149.39 trillion as at the first quarter of 2025, adding the approved loans of about N37.2 trillion brings our current total debt to about N187 trillion, with concerns that our debt might likely be over N200 trillion by the end of 2025,” he said.

The former governor warned that if the frequent borrowings were not stopped, Nigeria risked accumulating over 50 per cent of the current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the country.

“As our GDP before rebasing was about N269.2 trillion (about $180 billion), the government has borrowed the equivalent of nearly 70% of our previous GDP.

“Even after the rebasing, which pushed our GDP to about N372.8 trillion (about $243.7 billion), the government would have borrowed about 50.16 % of the new GDP (with the approved loans), the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in our history as a nation,” he warned.

Enough resources, inadequate impacts

Mr Obi stressed that despite “humongous borrowing” by Mr Tinubu’s government in two years, Nigeria has continued to battle worsening poverty, increasing unemployment, and malnutrition crises.

“This is a country blessed with enormous resources, yet nobody should go to bed hungry.

“Still, a persistent deficiency in leadership has thrown the majority of our citizens into increasing multi-dimensional poverty,” he said.

‘Stop mortgaging the future of our children’

Mr Obi argued that borrowing “is not inherently bad” provided it is sustainable and tied to productive investments with measurable outcomes.

“Unfortunately, this current pattern of borrowing without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact is simply mortgaging the future of our children.

“The government should consider the inter-generational consequences of their unsustainable borrowings and show at least a minimum consideration and interest in the future of young and unborn Nigerians,” he said.

READ ALSO: Peter Obi accuses Tinubu of ‘overfeeding’ Nigerians with wrong statistics

The former governor said there was a need to return to a disciplined and prudent economic management culture by cutting the cost of governance, blocking leakages and investing in human capital.

“Nigeria cannot continue to borrow recklessly while poverty deepens and public trust erodes. It is time to stop this fiscal indiscipline,” he stated.

“We must build a New Nigeria, where leadership is responsible, development is people-centred, and every kobo (money) borrowed or spent delivers a measurable impact to achieve sustainable and inclusive development and growth.”