Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele has addressed concerns regarding Nigeria’s mounting public debt. During a Monday session with the Senate Committee on Finance, he explained that the recent surge is driven by currency devaluation and technical accounting changes rather than new loans taken by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Addressing inquiries from Senator Adamu Aliero, Oyedele pushed back against assertions that the current government had accumulated an additional N80 trillion in debt on top of the inherited N75 trillion. The Minister noted that raw comparisons of debt stocks fail to reflect the impact of the weakening naira on foreign-denominated liabilities.
“When this administration took charge, public debt was approximately N75 trillion,” Oyedele stated. “Because Nigeria reports its debt in naira, the revaluation of foreign currency components—triggered by economic reforms and currency depreciation—accounted for over N40 trillion of the increase.”
Furthermore, Oyedele identified the securitisation of Ways and Means advances from the prior administration as a major factor. He maintained that domestic borrowing has largely been directed toward refinancing older obligations, emphasizing that the government is following a disciplined strategy prioritized for long-term infrastructure and economic stability.
