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 poor fiscal accountability.
Obi said Nigeria’s total public debt has risen to about N200 trillion, which he attributed to what he called “imprudent governance” under the current administration.
He said the debt level represents an increase of over N100 trillion in three years, contrasting it with the approximately N49 trillion accumulated during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The former Labour Party presidential flagbearer in the 2023 election stated this in a statement posted on his X handle on Tuesday, saying the situation reflected 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.
Citing figures from the Budget Office, Obi said the government borrowed N11.89 trillion in the first three quarters of 2025 (January to September), exceeding its planned borrowing target of N10.34 trillion by about N1.54 trillion.
He said such an overrun should ordinarily attract scrutiny and explanation from 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 claimed that only N3.10 trillion of the borrowed funds was allocated 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 funding 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 faced mounting debt pressures since the Tinubu administration’s major reforms began in mid-2023, including the removal of long-standing fuel subsidies and unification of the foreign exchange market.
These moves aimed to correct fiscal distortions but triggered immediate inflation spikes, naira volatility, and higher living costs, while increasing the local-currency burden of debt servicing.
Tinubu had disclosed in May 2026 that Nigeria plans to spend about $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026.
While supporters of the government argue that borrowings support critical infrastructure, critics warn of a debt without growth trap.