… Debt Interest Bill Hits N7.7tn, Exceeds H1 Revenue By N1.5tn
…FG Accounts For 92.6% Of Nigeria’s N166.79tn Total Debt
…Revenue Gains Fail To Ease Debt Servicing Pressure
The Federal Government’s debt liability has risen by 95.33 per cent in the last three years, data obtained from the Debt Management Office have shown.
According to the data obtained and analysed by our correspondent, the Federal Government’s total debt rose from N78.21tn as of June 2023 to N152.77tn as of June 2026.
This means that within the period of three years, the Federal Government’s debt rose by 95.33 per cent. The period corresponds to the presidency of Bola Tinubu who assumed office on May 29, 2023.
As of June 30, 2026, the country’s total debt – foreign and domestic – stood at N166.79tn, rising from a total of N87.38tn as of June 30, 2023.
This means that the Federal Government’s share of N152.77tn accounts for 92.6 per cent of the country’s total debt stock of N166.79tn as of June 30, 2026.
The subnational governments, i.e., the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory Administration as well as the 774 Local Governments, account for N14.02tn or 7.4 per cent of the total national debt.
Although the late President Muhammadu Buhari had left a debt of N55.51tn, the securitisation of the monies his administration borrowed from the Central Bank of Nigeria ballooned the final figure inherited by President Tinubu to N78.21tn.
The first year of Tinubu saw a significant rise in the debt of the Federal Government, witnessing a year-on-year increase of N44.59tn, up from N78.21tn to N122.8tn.
By June 30, 2025, the Federal Government’s commitment had risen to N141.08tn, showing a year-on-year increase of N18.28tn. This shows that although the debt stock of the Federal Government continued to rise, the growth rate had moderated to 14.89 per cent.
In the next one year, i.e., June 30, 2026, the growth rate moderated further as the total debt stock rose to N152.77tn, showing a year-on-year increase of N11.69tn or 8.29 per cent.
A breakdown into components shows that the external commitment of the Federal Government stood at N65.77tn as of 30 June 2026 while the domestic liabilities stood at N87tn.
As of June 30, 2023, the external component of the Federal Government’s debt stock stood at N29.9tn while the domestic component stood at N48.31tn.
This means that within the period under review, the external component rose by N35.87tn or 119.97 per cent. On the other hand, the local debt component rose by N38.69tn, showing an increase of 80.09 per cent within the three-year period.
Ambitious budget cycles and unmatched Internally Generated Revenues had forced the Federal Government to resort to taking loans from both domestic and foreign sources to make up for deficits.
While foreign loans have been subject to the vagaries of the international finance market as well as significant changes in exchange rates, the Federal Government has been criticised for crowding out the private sector in the domestic debt market.
The rise in the size of the country’s debt portfolio has expectedly led to a significant increase in the cost of debt servicing with interest payment often outstripping capital expenditures.
Our correspondent, for instance, had reported that Nigeria spent a total of $13.31bn in servicing foreign debts between 2023 and 2025. At an official exchange of about N1,347.80, this amounts to about N17.94tn.
Within the same period of time, the Federal Government budgeted a total of N12.02tn for education and health.
This means that within the three-year period, foreign debt servicing obligations of the country exceeded the Federal Government’s combined budgets for health and education by N5.92tn or 49.25 per cent.
In 2023, the country spent $3.5bn on foreign debt servicing, comprising $1.23bn on multilateral creditors; $344.57m on bilateral creditors and $1.93bn on commercial debts. Commercial debt alone accounted for 55 per cent of the year’s external debt service payments.
For 2024, total payments rose to about $4.66bn, made up of approximately $2.62bn to multilateral creditors; $570.67m to bilateral creditors, and $1.47bn to commercial creditors.
The International Monetary Fund was the largest multilateral item, while Eurobond payments dominated commercial debt servicing.
In 2025, external debt servicing reached $5.15bn. Commercial creditors received $2.55bn, multilateral creditors $1.99bn and bilateral creditors $599.95m.
Multilateral debt represented 43.9 per cent of the entire three-year external debt-service bill. The biggest multilateral creditors over the period included the IMF with of $401.73m in 2023, about $1.63bn in 2024 and $816.29m in 2025.
The International Development Association (IDA) received $574.3 in 2023, about $663.23m in 2024 and $769.24m in 2025 while the African Development Bank (AfDB) received $169.38m in 2023, about $172.64m in 2024 and $243.9m in 2025.
Bilateral creditors accounted for the smallest share – 11.4 per cent – of the three-year total. Bilateral debt servicing accounted for $344.57m in 2023; $570.67m in 2024; and $599.95m in 2025. Thus, for the three-year period, the country paid a total of $1.52bn on bilateral debts.
The Export-Import Bank of China was the dominant bilateral creditor. Nigeria paid $268.32m in 2023, about $362.6m in 2024 and $475.77m in 2025. Thus, within a period of three years, Nigeria paid $1.12bn (about N1.51tn) on servicing bilateral commitments to Exim Bank of China.
This shows that 73.68 per cent of the bilateral debt obligations of the country within the period under review went to the Exim Bank of China. This reflects the increasing importance of China in Nigeria’s development financing.
Other bilateral payments went to Agence Française de Développement; Exim Bank of India; KfW of Germany; JICA of Japan; and China Development Bank.
However, commercial debt was the largest external debt-service burden over the three years, accounting for 44.7 per cent of total payments.
Commercial creditors received $1.92bn in 2023; $1.47bn in 2024; and $2.55bn in 2025. Thus, within the period under review, the country paid a total of $5.94bn on commercial debts.
The principal item was Eurobonds which accounted for $1.68bn in 2023; about $1.15bn in 2024; and $2.49bn in 2025.
