Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has clarified the country’s debt figures. Speaking at an economic review session hosted by the Senate Committee on Finance, he said the administration of President Bola Tinubu has not borrowed the N80 trillion being widely quoted in public discussions.
Oyedele explained that much of the jump in Nigeria’s public debt stock has been misunderstood. According to him, a large share of the increase came from the revaluation of existing foreign currency obligations, the formal recognition of liabilities inherited from previous governments, and other accounting adjustments, not from fresh borrowing by the current government.
He pointed out that comparisons being made in the public space lack context. “When this administration came into office, public debt was around N75 trillion. Many people simply compare the number before and the number now and conclude that this government has borrowed so much. That is not correct,” he said. 
A major driver of the increase, he added, was currency depreciation. More than N40 trillion was added to the debt figure after the naira weakened, forcing a revaluation of the country’s foreign currency-denominated obligations. The foreign exchange component had to be adjusted following recent currency reforms, which significantly raised the reported debt total.
Another key factor was the securitisation of ways and means advances taken from the Central Bank of Nigeria by the previous administration. Oyedele said about N33 trillion was added after the National Assembly approved the conversion of those advances into formal debt, moving them onto the official books.
The minister also pushed back on the idea that every borrowing approval by the National Assembly equals money already drawn. He said confusion often arises because approved figures are reported as if they were loans taken, while actual withdrawals are recorded separately. He cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, as an example of a programme designed to expand access to education and ease financial pressure on families.
Lawmakers raised separate concerns during the session. Senator Tahir Monguno questioned the slow pace of budget implementation despite improved revenue, noting that the 2025 budget was not fully executed and a large portion of capital expenditure was rolled over to 2026. He described failure to implement an Appropriation Act as “an impeachable offence,” and also asked why about N1.7 trillion was reportedly retained after about N3.7 trillion accrued to the Federation Account. Senator Adamu Aliero claimed former President Muhammadu Buhari borrowed N75 trillion while President Tinubu has borrowed between N75 and N80 trillion. Oyedele said he was not familiar with those specific figures but maintained that no FAAC allocation under the current administration has fallen below N2 trillion.
Committee Chairman, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, said the true test of the government’s reforms will be whether they improve the welfare of Nigerians. He acknowledged that a new budgeting framework will take time to bed in, but said one or two years to build an effective system would be worthwhile. Musa also called for stronger coordination between fiscal and monetary authorities, and said the National Assembly is considering decentralising aspects of the payment system while keeping oversight with the Accountant-General to speed up government payments. He clarified that complaints about payment batch numbers stem from a misunderstanding, and insisted the payment system is working but needs improvement.
