The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has warned that Nigeria’s rising debt profile has reached a “critical point,” surpassing the country’s constitutional threshold.
He raised the alarm while speaking on Monday at the opening of the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) in Abuja.
Abbas disclosed that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N149.39 trillion (about US$97 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, up sharply from N121.7 trillion in 2024.
He added that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio has risen to 52 percent, breaching the 40 percent ceiling set by law.
“This is a signal of strain on fiscal sustainability,” the Speaker warned, calling for stronger oversight, transparent borrowing, and reforms to ensure borrowed funds deliver measurable social and economic returns.
Abbas further cautioned that Nigeria risked following the path of other African countries already spending more on debt servicing than on essential services such as healthcare. He described the situation as “a structural crisis that demands urgent parliamentary attention and coordinated reform.”
To mitigate the risks, the Speaker announced Nigeria’s readiness to spearhead the creation of a West African Parliamentary Debt Oversight Framework under WAAPAC. The initiative, he explained, will harmonise debt reporting across the sub-region, set transparency standards, and equip parliaments with data to scrutinise borrowing practices.
He also outlined plans for a regional capacity-building programme for Public Accounts and Finance Committees to strengthen their expertise in debt sustainability analysis and fiscal risk management.
While stressing that borrowing should focus on bridging infrastructure gaps, Abbas warned against reckless debt that fuels consumption or corruption.
“Oversight is not just about figures, but about the lives and futures behind those figures,” he said.
Reaffirming the commitment of the 10th House of Representatives to accountability, Abbas said all major borrowing proposals would be subjected to public hearings, while simplified debt reports would be made available to citizens under the legislature’s Open Parliament policy.
The WAAPAC conference, attended by lawmakers from across West Africa, development partners, and financial experts, is themed “Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt: The Role of Finance and Public Accounts Committees.”
His remarks come just days after President Bola Tinubu, currently on leave, announced that the Federal Government would no longer borrow from domestic banks following what he described as a significant revenue breakthrough from non-oil sectors. Tinubu disclosed that Nigeria had met its 2025 annual revenue target by August.