The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has said that Nigeria’s total debt has gone down since President Bola Tinubu emerged president in May 2023.
In a statement dated October 24, the NOA said some people were spreading wrong information about Nigeria’s debt, noting that data from the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Finance, and other bodies showed debt has actually reduced.
According to the NOA, “Nigeria’s total public debt stood at $113.42 billion as of June 2023, with a debt-to-GDP ratio below 40 per cent,” adding that by December 2024, “total public debt had declined to approximately $94.22 billion, representing a reduction of over $19 billion in just 18 months.”
“The reduction in Nigeria’s debt shows that the federal government is actively managing its borrowings and repayments,” the NOA said.
“Instead of accumulating more debt, Nigeria has been making down payments on some of its loans and avoiding unnecessary new borrowings. This is a positive sign of fiscal responsibility,” it added.
However, the DMO said in its October 12 report that Nigeria’s total debt was N152.39 trillion as of June 30, which is higher than N149.39 trillion recorded in March.
Business Post understands that this difference is because the NOA used the figures in Dollar equivalent while the DMO used Naira figures.
The NOA also said that before President Tinubu took office, almost all government money was used to pay debts.
It noted that, “97 per cent of federal income in the first half of 2023 went to debt repayments,” it said, adding that “By the end of 2024, the ratio had improved to 68 per cent, and further reduced to less than 50 per cent by mid-2025.”
The agency added that Nigeria is still facing challenges because it depends too much on oil, but the government is working to get more money from other sources like taxes and Customs.
“In the first half of 2024, non-oil revenue increased by 30 per cent compared to the same period in 2023. The Nigeria Customs Service collected N1.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, more than double the N600 billion collected in the same period in 2023,” it said.
The NOA also said the economy is improving, with the World Bank expecting a 3.7 per cent growth in 2024. It added that the Tinubu-led government is investing in infrastructure, farming, digital economy, and small businesses to help the country grow