From Jude Chinedu, Enugu and Idu Jude, Abuja
Former Anambra State governor and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Mr. Peter Obi, has, for the umpteenth time, cried out over Nigeria’s rising debt profile.
He accused the Federal Government of “mortgaging the future of our children through reckless and unproductive borrowing.”
Obi’s statement comes after the Senate, on July 22, 2025, approved an additional $21 billion, €2.2 billion, and ¥15 billion in external loans for the 2025–2026 fiscal cycle. The Senate also approved a N750.98 billion domestic bond issuance and a €65 million grant.
He said with Nigeria’s public debt already at about N149.39 trillion as of the first quarter of 2025, the new loans, which amount to roughly N37.2 trillion, would push the total debt burden to approximately N187 trillion, with fears that “our debt might likely be over N200 trillion by the end of 2025.”
Obi said Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio has now reached alarming levels. “As our GDP before rebasing was about N269.2 trillion (about $180 billion), the government has borrowed the equivalent of nearly 70 per cent of our previous GDP.”
“Even after the rebasing, which pushed our GDP to about N372.8 trillion (about $243.7 billion), the government would have borrowed about 50.16 per cent of the new GDP (with the approved loans), the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in our history as a nation.”
He further noted that the country is on an unsustainable trajectory. “While the year-on-year increase is about N27.72 trillion and the quarter-on-quarter increase is about N4.72 trillion, we are accumulating very exponential levels of unsustainable debt with little or nothing to show for it in critical areas such as education, healthcare, electricity generation, security of lives and property, and pulling people out of poverty.”
Lamenting Nigeria’s performance in human development, Obi said: “We still rank low in all major human development indicators. While education is underfunded, and standards in continuous decline, healthcare remains inaccessible to millions of Nigerians, particularly the poor.
“Security of lives and property has deteriorated with over 10,217 people killed and 672 villages sacked between 29 May 2023 and May 29, 2025, even when security spending has significantly increased from N2.98 trillion in 2023 to N4.91 trillion in 2025.”
Obi also drew attention to Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit. “About 135,000km of our 195,000km of roads remain unpaved, largely unmotorable, and unusable. It is the same depressing situation in almost all sectors of the economy, with the power sector an unquestionable example, with less than 5,000 MW supplied for over 200 million Nigerians,” he said.
On poverty and unemployment, Obi expressed concern that despite massive borrowing, “we are still confronted with negative reports of worsening poverty with about 133 million (63 per cent) Nigerians classified as multi-dimensionally poor, increasing unemployment and disheartening news like 652 children dead as the malnutrition crisis worsens in Northern Nigeria.”
He referenced the warning by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) about escalating malnutrition in Northern Nigeria, saying: “This is a country blessed with enormous resources, yet nobody should go to bed hungry. Still, a persistent deficiency in leadership has thrown the majority of our citizens into increasing multidimensional poverty.”
The former governor stressed that borrowing is not the problem if done responsibly. “Borrowing is not inherently bad if it is sustainable and tied to productive investments with measurable outcomes. Unfortunately, this current pattern of borrowing without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact is simply mortgaging the future of our children.
“The government should consider the inter-generational consequences of their unsustainable borrowings and show, at least, a minimum consideration and interest in the future of young and unborn Nigerians.”
Calling for a reset of Nigeria’s fiscal culture, Obi urged leaders to “cut the cost of governance, block leakages, invest in human capital, and build a productive economy. Nigeria cannot continue to borrow recklessly while poverty deepens and public trust erodes. It is time to stop this fiscal indiscipline.
“We must build a New Nigeria, where leadership is responsible, development is people-centred, and every kobo borrowed or spent delivers a measurable impact to achieve sustainable and inclusive development and growth,” he added.
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