DMO: Data Analyst Ogunsanwo Highlights Flaws In Nigeria’s N149.39tn Debt

Babajide Ogunsanwo, a data analyst, has raised concerns over Nigeria’s N149.39 trillion debt as of Q1 2025.

Speaking on Channels Television on Sunday, Ogunsanwo criticized the lack of visible or measurable results from the country’s rising debt burden.

He argued that both Nigerians and the Debt Management Office should shift their focus to evaluating the outcomes of the borrowed funds.

He warned that poor loan utilization is one of the biggest threats to a nation’s stability and noted that a key concern in the latest debt figures is the sharp increase in domestic borrowing—reportedly up by N50 trillion in the past two years under President Tinubu.

“The challenge we have is that we are focused on the cost of debt without really matching it to what we are getting in return from this debt.

“Nothing really weakens the government as much as the poor use of debt. Over the years, we have been talking about the cost of debt; the conversation we should be having now is: what exactly are the returns on the debt? Whenever we see the Debt Management Office talking about debt service, we have to elevate our discussion to include what the returns and results on this debt are — the tangible or intangible returns,” he said.

Ogunsanwo added, “The real headache is domestic borrowing; the Federal Government under Tinubu has acquired 50 trillion in two years.”

His remarks follow the recent release of Nigeria’s Q1 2025 debt figures by the Debt Management Office, which revealed a total debt of N149.39 trillion.

This marks a quarter-on-quarter rise of N4.72 trillion, or 3.3 percent, from N144.67 trillion recorded at the end of December 2024.

A closer look at the data shows that domestic debt surged by 203 percent, reaching N74.8 trillion in Q1 2025—up from N23.7 trillion in the same period of 2023.

Meanwhile, external debt rose by 11 percent, climbing to \$41 billion from \$37 billion over the same timeframe.