Tinubu’s N65.9tn Debt In 24 Months Exceeds Five Times Nigeria’s 55-Year Borrowing — Dele Oye

Dele Oye, chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics LTD/GTE, has raised concern over the rise in Nigeria’s public debt.

According to Tribune, Oye said the increase recorded under the administration of President Bola Tinubu is unprecedented.

He explained that Tinubu has borrowed about N65.9 trillion within just two years, an amount he says is more than five times the total debt Nigeria accumulated during its first 55 years after independence.

Oye, who is the immediate past chairman of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), noted that earlier administrations built up debt gradually over several decades, reaching about N12 trillion.

However, the current government alone has added far more within a much shorter period.

He also pointed out that Nigeria’s total public debt had risen to N159.28 trillion as of April 2026, based on figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Oye emphasized that by this estimate, each Nigerian is effectively carrying a debt burden of about N670,000.

He warned that the pace at which the country is borrowing could create serious long-term challenges if urgent steps are not taken to improve revenue and enforce stricter financial discipline.

Dele Oye noted that rising debt could limit government spending on key sectors in the future.

He said, “Cast your mind back to 2006. Nigeria had just pulled off one of the most celebrated fiscal feats in African history.

“President Olusegun Obasanjo paid $12 billion to extinguish $30 billion in Paris Club debt. Nigeria was, briefly, externally debt-free. The Excess Crude Account was flush.

“The future looked fundable. Twenty years later, that golden moment reads like a fairy tale.

“Under President Goodluck Jonathan, debt crept back to N12.06 trillion by 2015 — manageable, but the warning signs were already blinking. Then came the Buhari years.

“In eight years, the debt exploded from N12.06 trillion to N87.38 trillion, a 620 percent increase.

“The Central Bank was pressed into printing money through ‘Ways and Means’ advances; N23.7 trillion of this was eventually securitised into long-term bonds, effectively converting a government overdraft into a generational liability.

“President Bola Tinubu’s administration has added a further N65.9 trillion in just two years.

“To put that in perspective: it took Nigeria’s first 55 years of independence to accumulate N12 trillion in debt.

” The current administration has added more than five times that amount in 24 months.”

KanyiDaily recalls that Nigeria recently maintained its spot as the third-largest borrower from the International Development Association (IDA), the concessional lending arm of the World Bank.