The Debt Management Office (DMO) has debunked claims that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) spent N611.71 billion to service a domestic US Dollar-denominated bond in March 2025.
The agency clarified that the actual amount used for debt service in the referenced period was N67.988 billion.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the DMO described the N611.71 billion figure, which has been circulating in some media reports, as “wrong in its entirety”.
DMO stated in the statement, “The figure published by the DMO on its website for Q1, 2025 as Debt Service on the US Dollar-denominated Bond was N67.988 billion and not N611.71 billion. The figure of N611.71 billion quoted by some analysts is the Debt Service for all outstanding FGN Bonds (excluding the US Dollar-denominated Bond).
“For the avoidance of Doubt, the Q1 2025 Domestic Debt Service figure published on the DMO’s website for Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds in the month of March 2025 was N611.71 billion. In the same Report and on a separate line, the Debt Service for Domestic FGN US Dollar Bond for March 2025 was N67.988 billion,” the agency noted.
The DMO noted further that contrary to some claims, no amount was repaid as principal repayment on the US Dollar Bond.
“The Bond is to be repaid in full at maturity in 2029”, the DMO stated.
Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N149.39 trillion as of March 31, 2025, marking a year-on-year increase of N27.72 trillion or 22.8% when compared to the N121.67 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
The domestic component of Nigeria’s debt also maintained an upward trend, reaching N78.76 trillion at the end of March 2025.
This reflects a year-on-year increase of N13.11 trillion or 20% from N65.65 trillion in March 2024. On a quarterly basis, domestic debt rose by N4.38 trillion or 5.9%, up from N74.38 trillion in December 2024.
The Federal Government alone accounted for N74.89 trillion of this total, while the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) jointly held N3.87 trillion. Interestingly, state-level domestic debt declined slightly from N3.97 trillion in Q4 2024 and from N4.07 trillion in Q1 2024, settling at N3.87 trillion by the end of March 2025.
Nigeria’s external debt as of March 31, 2025, stood at N70.63 trillion ($45.98 billion), a significant jump from N56.02 trillion ($42.12 billion) in the same period in 2024.