The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over what he described as excessive borrowing and weak fiscal accountability.
Obi said Nigeria’s total public debt has climbed to about N200 trillion, which he linked to what he termed “imprudent governance” under the present administration.
He said the debt stock reflects an increase of more than N100 trillion within three years, comparing it with the roughly N49 trillion accumulated during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election made this known in a statement posted on his X handle on Tuesday, saying the development demonstrated a lack of accountability and transparency in the management of borrowed funds.
“President Bola Tinubu’s administration has engaged in remarkably imprudent borrowing, escalating Nigeria’s total debt to approximately N200 trillion. This represents an increase of over N100 trillion within a mere three years, a stark contrast to the roughly N49 trillion accumulated during President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure, which would have projected to around N80 trillion.
“As millions of Nigerians grapple with the shock of this unsustainable debt accumulation, the situation is exacerbated by the government’s reckless approach to borrowing and a profound absence of accountability and transparency in the utilisation of these funds,” he said.
Referring to figures from the Budget Office, Obi said the government borrowed N11.89 trillion in the first three quarters of 2025 (January to September), surpassing its planned borrowing target of N10.34 trillion by about N1.54 trillion.
He said such an excess above target should ordinarily attract scrutiny and explanation from the relevant authorities.
“Under a responsible and accountable government, such an overshoot would necessitate rigorous scrutiny and explanation from relevant governmental bodies. Regrettably, this is not the reality under the current administration,” he said.
Obi further alleged that only N3.10 trillion of the borrowed funds was directed to capital expenditure during the January–September 2025 period, representing 17.66 per cent of the N17.58 trillion earmarked for capital projects, leaving a financing gap of about N14.48 trillion.
He questioned how the remaining funds were utilised.
“The most disturbing aspect of the financial management fiasco under Bola Tinubu is that there is no explanation or information regarding how the balance was utilised or deployed.
“The question that Nigerians are rightly asking and deserve an answer to is what happened to the balance? Was it deployed for recurrent expenditure/consumption, for the entertainment of guests to Aso Rock or transferred to the Renewed Hope Agenda 2027 Election Campaign Fund?
“Nigerians deserve an answer on how our economy and resources are most unpatriotically managed,” he said.
Nigeria has continued to face increasing debt pressures since the Tinubu administration introduced major reforms in mid-2023, including the removal of long-standing fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market.
The measures were designed to address fiscal distortions but triggered immediate inflationary pressures, naira volatility and higher living costs, while also increasing the local-currency burden of debt servicing.
Tinubu disclosed in May 2026 that Nigeria plans to spend about $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026.
While supporters of the administration argue that borrowings are financing critical infrastructure projects, critics caution against the risk of a debt-without-growth trap.
