Nigeria's total public debt has “significantly decreased” since President Bola Tinubu took office in 2023, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has said, countering widespread claims of an increase in the national debt.
In a clarification issued on 24 October, NOA said that misinformation had created a “false narrative” about Nigeria's debt burden. Citing data from the Debt Management Office (DMO), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ministry of Finance, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the agency said the country's debt situation had indeed improved.
According to NOA, Nigeria's total public debt as of June 2023 stood at $113.42 billion, with a debt-to-GDP ratio below 40 percent, which was considered sustainable by both the IMF and the World Bank. The agency reported that total public debt was to decline to approximately $94.22 billion by December 2024, representing a reduction of more than $19 billion in just 18 months.
“Nigeria's debt reduction shows that the federal government is actively managing its borrowing and repayments,” NOA said. “Instead of accumulating more debt, Nigeria is paying down some of its debt and avoiding unnecessary new borrowing. This is a positive sign of fiscal responsibility.”
However, the DMO in its October 12 report, put Nigeria's total public debt as at June 30 at N152.39 trillion, an increase of N3 trillion or 2.01 per cent from the N149.39 trillion recorded in March. Analysts say this apparent discrepancy arises from different valuation methods and currency exchange effects between NOA's dollar-based figures and DMO's naira-based assessments.
The NOA lecturer further revealed that before the Tinubu administration took office, Nigeria's debt service had consumed almost all government revenue, with 97 per cent of federal income in the first half of 2023 having gone into debt servicing. In contrast, the agency reported that the ratio was expected to improve to 68 percent by the end of 2024, and to less than 50 percent by mid-2025.
“While still at a high level, this represents a significant improvement, reflecting better fiscal management and increased government revenues,” the agency said.
The report highlighted that the federal government had demonstrated fiscal discipline by repaying an IMF loan of $3.26 billion within two years and spending about $7 billion on external debt service in the first 18 months of the Tinubu administration.
Despite the debt reduction, NOA acknowledged that Nigeria still faces economic challenges due to its overdependence on oil revenues. It said the government has stepped up efforts to boost non-oil revenues through increasing tax collections and curbing leakages.
“In the first half of 2024, non-oil revenues increased by 30 percent compared to the same period in 2023,” NOA reported. “The Nigeria Customs Service collected N1.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, more than double the N600 billion collected in the same period in 2023.”
Nigeria's economy is showing signs of recovery, with the World Bank projecting a 3.7 percent GDP growth rate for 2024, driven by agriculture, telecommunications and services – the country's strongest performance in a decade after the pandemic, the agency said.
It said the federal government is investing heavily in infrastructure, agriculture, the digital economy and small businesses to diversify the economy and ensure sustainable growth beyond oil.
