NOA faults DMO on Nigeria’s debt profile, says debt has declined under Tinubu

As concerns mount over Nigeria’s growing debt, two federal agencies — the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) — have presented conflicting accounts of the country’s current debt status.

The DMO recently reported that Nigeria’s total public debt had risen to ₦152.40 trillion as of June 30, 2025, representing a ₦3.01 trillion increase from ₦149.39 trillion recorded at the end of March 2025 — a 2.01 percent rise in three months.

In dollar terms, the DMO said the debt stock increased from $97.24 billion to $99.66 billion, reflecting a 2.49 percent growth. The agency added that Nigeria’s external debt climbed to $46.98 billion (₦71.85 trillion) in June, up from $45.98 billion (₦70.63 trillion) in March.

However, the NOA has dismissed the DMO’s figures as “misinformation.”
In an explainer released on October 24, 2025, and shared via its official X handle, the agency described the DMO report as a “false narrative” about Nigeria’s debt burden.

According to the NOA, the country’s total public debt stood at $113.42 billion as of June 2023, with a debt-to-GDP ratio below 40 percent, which remains within the sustainable threshold set by the IMF and World Bank.

It added that by December 2024, Nigeria’s debt had dropped to $94.22 billion, representing a reduction of over $19 billion in 18 months.

“The reduction in Nigeria’s debt shows that the federal government is actively managing its borrowings and repayments.
Instead of accumulating more debt, Nigeria has been making down payments on some of its loans and avoiding unnecessary new borrowings. This is a positive sign of fiscal responsibility,” the NOA said.

The agency further noted that before President Tinubu’s administration, debt servicing consumed nearly all government revenue — with about 97 percent of total earnings in the first half of 2023 used for debt payments.

“By the end of 2024, this ratio had improved to 68 percent, and by the second quarter of 2025, it had dropped below 50 percent,” the NOA explained.

Commending the administration’s “commitment to honouring financial obligations,” the NOA said the federal government had repaid a $3.26 billion IMF loan within two years and spent about $7 billion on external debt servicing during the first 18 months of the administration.

The agency also praised the Tinubu government’s efforts to expand non-oil revenue through improved tax collection and fiscal reforms, noting that non-oil revenue grew by 30 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

“The Nigeria Customs Service collected ₦1.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2025 — more than double the ₦600 billion collected during the same period in 2023. This remarkable increase reflects the government’s renewed focus on strengthening revenue mobilisation without raising tax rates,” the NOA said.

It cited a World Bank projection placing Nigeria’s GDP growth at 3.7 percent in 2024, the strongest expansion in nearly a decade, driven by reforms in agriculture, telecommunications, and services.

The agency added that the government’s investments in infrastructure, agriculture, and digital innovation were fostering economic diversification and reducing dependence on oil revenues.