Getting richer on debt

President Tinubu claims Nigeria met its revenue target early, ending further borrowing. This contradicts the Speaker’s warning that national debt has already breached its legal ceiling.

President Bola Tinubu announced that Nigeria met its 2025 revenue target ahead of schedule and declared that the government would not need to borrow further to fund the budget. Speaking in Abuja, he credited non-oil revenue growth and said the naira had stabilised, appreciating from over ₦1,900/$ to about ₦1,450/$ since the unification of foreign exchange windows. Yet, just a day earlier, Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen warned that Nigeria’s debt had already breached its statutory ceiling and posed a risk to fiscal stability. Addressing a regional parliamentary conference on public debt, he urged urgent reforms in borrowing practices and stronger oversight mechanisms.