Nigeria’s Debt Stock Grows 90.9% In 3 Years As Borrowing Hits N166.79trn

…FG accounts for N152.77trn

Nigeria’s total public debt stock has grown by 90.9 per cent since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, rising from N87.38 trillion to N166.79 trillion, according to the latest figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Of the N166.79 trillion total public debt as of June 30, 2026, the federal government accounted for approximately N152.77 trillion (about 91.6 per cent), while states and the FCT hold the remaining N14.01 trillion (about 8.4 per cent).

DMO data showed Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N87.38 trillion as of June 30, 2023, shortly after Tinubu took office. As of June 30, 2026, the figure has risen almost double to N166.79 trillion, a 90.9 per cent increase over the three-year period.

Data from the DMO showed that debt rose from N159.28 trillion at the end of December 2025, to N159.35 trillion by March 2026, and to N166.79 trillion by June 2026 — an increase of N7.44 trillion in the second quarter.

External debt rose from $42.49 billion in December 2023 to $51.86 billion by December 2025, and to $54.52 billion by June 2026, an increase of about 28.4 per cent.

Domestic debt rose from N59.1 trillion in December 2023 to N89.4 trillion by December 2025, and to N91.59 trillion by June 2026, an increase of roughly 55 per cent.

The increase in domestic debt reflected continued issuance of FGN bonds, Nigerian Treasury Bills, and securitised Ways and Means advances.

The federal government held the bulk share of both domestic and external debt throughout the period.

As of June 2026, FGN debt stood at approximately N152.77 trillion, while states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) accounted for approximately N14.01 trillion.

The Tinubu administration removed the petrol subsidy and unified the exchange rate early in its term.

Despite these reforms debt figures show borrowing has continued to rise over the period covered.

Recall that analysts have variously decried the country’s rising debt profile despite the removal of the fuel subsidy, which has boosted government revenues. They described it as unsustainable, raising concerns over the pace of accumulation and its implications for fiscal space.

LCCI president, Leye Kupoluyi, had raised concern over the trend at the Chamber’s Q2 2026 State of the Economy briefing in Lagos, had said while Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio remained within internationally acceptable thresholds, the country’s weak non-oil revenue base and escalating debt-servicing obligations continued to put pressure on public finances.

At an earlier briefing on the Chamber’s review of the economy, Kupoluyi  that Nigeria’s debt figures were reaching “uncomfortable levels,” adding that the Chamber was more concerned about the debt-servicing cost strangulating capital spending in the face of a huge infrastructure deficit.

Also, chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf,  separately raised concerns over debt sustainability.

Yusuf had said the rising debt-servicing burden was a structural challenge that leaves government finances severely constrained, noting that once debt servicing is deducted from government revenue, little is left for other obligations, reinforcing a cycle of further borrowing.

“If the government is borrowing at 17, 18, or 20 per cent, that is extremely high,” he’d said.

Yusuf attributed part of the debt build-up to specific fiscal and monetary factors, pointing to the sharp depreciation of the naira, which significantly increased the local-currency value of external debt, as well as the securitisation of N23 trillion in Ways and Means advances, as key contributors to the growth in public debt.

Both CPPE and LCCI have raised concerns over debt sustainability, pointing to the cost of servicing an expanding debt stock as increasingly competing with capital expenditure and constraining the fiscal space available to government — even as fuel subsidy removal has boosted revenue collection.

The securitisation of Ways and Means advances — the Central Bank’s overdraft facility to the federal government — contributed to the increase in domestic debt by converting previously off-balance-sheet borrowing into recognised public debt.