Presidency rejects claims Tinubu borrowed ₦120tn in three years

The Presidency has refuted viral social media claims alleging that President Bola Tinubu’s administration accumulated ₦120 trillion in debt over its first three years in office, dismissing the figures as a distorted representation of the nation's public financial records.

Dada Olusegun, the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, addressed the claims in a statement on Sunday, explaining that comparisons between past administrations and the current government fail to account for structural economic adjustments, currency unification, and previously hidden liabilities.

The controversy stemmed from a widely circulated graphic claiming that 16 preceding Nigerian leaders borrowed a cumulative ₦46 trillion over 63 years, compared to ₦120 trillion under Tinubu. Olusegun countered that the baseline ₦46 trillion figure from late 2022 omitted ₦22.7 trillion in Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) "Ways and Means" overdrafts, which were not formally integrated into official public debt records until May 2023.

Furthermore, Olusegun noted that previous foreign debt valuations relied on an undervalued official exchange rate of around ₦448 per dollar, masking the true naira value of external liabilities.

"When the exchange rate was unified in June 2023, the exact same dollar debt instantly looked ₦13.4 trillion larger on paper overnight without a single new dollar being borrowed," Olusegun stated.

According to Debt Management Office data cited by the Presidency, Nigeria’s public debt shifted from $113.4 billion (approx. ₦87.38 trillion) in June 2023 to $120.93 billion (approx. ₦166.79 trillion) by June 2026 representing a net dollar-term increase of $7.5 billion, with the nominal naira rise driven heavily by exchange-rate adjustments and inherited central bank liabilities.

Defending the administration's fiscal choices, the presidential aide argued that petrol subsidy removal has significantly bolstered sub-national allocations, noting that monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributions climbed from ₦656 billion in April 2023 to ₦2.4 trillion by September 2026.

The defense comes as the Federal Government faces renewed scrutiny from opposition parties—including the Nigeria Democratic Congress following President Tinubu’s recent request for Senate approval of a $7.7 billion external borrowing plan to finance the 2026 budget deficit, which replaced a previously submitted request for $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion.