N149.39trn Debt: Akpabio, Abbas Warn Against Unchecked Borrowing

The National Assembly (NASS) has warned that if not checked, Nigeria’s public debt profile, which totalled N149.39 trillion (US$97 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, portends danger for the future.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, issued the warning at yesterday’s 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) in Abuja.

The conference is hosted by the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee with the theme: “Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt.”

Akpabio, represented by Senator Osita Izunaso, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, said unchecked debt could mortgage citizens’ future and undermine democracy across the West African subregion.

He said parliamentary oversight is indispensable to fiscal stability and that when debt is well managed, it serves as a strategic instrument for financing infrastructure, growth and sustainable development.

Akpabio urged all WAAPAC-member nations to provide legislative or constitutional authority for the relevant committees, saying this would guarantee their independence and effectiveness in protecting public resources.

“Public debt, when properly managed, is a strategic instrument for financing growth, infrastructure, and sustainable development. However, when left unchecked or shrouded in opacity, it becomes a burden that mortgages the future of our citizens. This is why parliamentary oversight is indispensable.

“The Nigerian experience has shown that when parliamentary committees are empowered by law, transparency is deepened, fiscal responsibility is strengthened, and democracy is enriched,” he said.

For his part, Abbas warned that Nigeria’s debt profile has reached a critical level and urged parliaments across West Africa to strengthen oversight of public borrowing to safeguard the future of their citizens.

Represented by the House leader, Hon. Julius Ihonvbhere, Abbas disclosed that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N149.39 trillion (about US$97 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, indicating a sharp rise from N121.7 trillion the previous year.

He expressed concern over the debt-to-GDP ratio, which at present stood at roughly 52 per cent, well above the statutory ceiling of 40 per cent set by extant laws.

“This breach of our debt limit signals the strain on fiscal sustainability. It highlights the urgent need for stronger oversight, transparent borrowing practices, and a collective resolve to ensure that tangible economic and social returns match every Naira borrowed.

“Across Africa, debt levels have reached alarming proportions. By 2022, the continent’s total public debt had reached US$1.8 trillion, with external debt alone expected to surpass US$1 trillion by 2023.

“Several countries are now in dangerous debt-to-GDP territory: Sudan at 344 percent, Angola at 136.8 percent, Ghana at 84 percent, Kenya at nearly 70 percent, and South Africa above 77 percent,” Abbas said.

The speaker noted that across Africa, debt has become a structural crisis as several countries spend more on servicing loans than on healthcare and other essential services.

According to him, 35 percent is owed to Western private lenders, 39 percent to multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank, 13 percent to bilateral creditors and 12 percent to China.

Abbas said Nigeria is committed to championing the establishment of a West African Parliamentary Debt Oversight Framework under WAAPAC to harmonise debt reporting, create regional standards for transparency, and empower legislatures with timely data for effective scrutiny.

“It is also important to stress that effective oversight of public debt requires vigilance, knowledge, and institutional strength. As already noted, debt levels in Africa are rising at a pace that compels us to act with foresight,” he added.

In his remarks, the minister of Finance and coordinating minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the federal government’s bold economic reforms were yielding results with debt levels becoming more sustainable and investors’ confidence returning.

“The Nigerian economy is turning the corner. The reforms are delivering measurable impact in terms of investor confidence, in terms of lower spending of fuel imports, greater energy self-sufficiency and value added. By next year, we expect to have 1.2 million barrels per day refining capacity,” Edun said.

He disclosed that Nigeria’s debt service-to-revenue ratio had dropped to about 60 percent in 2024, while the debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 38.8 percent, saying it is a comfortable level compared to global benchmarks.

The minister said revenue grew by 34.7 percent in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period last year, expanding fiscal space for investment in priority sectors.

Edun credited the gains to tough but necessary policy choices such as the removal of fuel subsidies, liberalisation of the exchange rate and the roll-out of a comprehensive tax reform programme aimed at boosting efficiency, simplifying compliance, and raising Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio over time.