January 28, (THEWILL) – The Debt Management Office (DMO) has refuted claims that Nigeria’s public debt rose from N21 trillion to N142 trillion under President Bola Tinubu.
Nigeria’s public debt refers to the total amount of money the country owes to creditors inside and outside Nigeria. It includes domestic debt and external debt.
According to the latest figures published on the DMO website last Tuesday, Nigeria’s public debt reached N142.3 trillion by September 30, 2024. This marks a 5.97% increase (an additional N8.02 trillion) from the N134.3 trillion recorded in June 2024.
The figure comprises N68.89 trillion in external debt and N73.4 trillion in domestic debt. In dollar terms, the figure saw a slight increase of 0.29 percent, rising from $42.90 billion in June to $43.03 billion by September. However, in naira terms, the external debt climbed sharply by 9.22 percent, jumping from N63.07 trillion to N68.89 trillion over the same period.
In response to reports that President Tinubu inherited N21 trillion in public debt which rose to N142 trillion, DMO in a statement on Monday, clarified that “when the president took office on May 29, 2023, the country’s total public debt stood at N87.38 trillion as of June 30, 2023, not N21 trillion as reported by some news outlets”.
Titled, ‘CLARIFICATION OF INACCURATE HEADLINE – “HOW NIGERIA’S DEBT ROSE FROM N21 TRILLION TO N142 TRILLION UNDER TINUBU”, the statement reads:
The Debt Management Office (DMO) wishes to notify the general public that the news headline circulating in the media titled, “How Nigeria’s Debt Rose from M21 trillion to N142 trillion under Tinubu”, is inaccurate.
As a matter of fact, the Total Public Debt Stock as of June 30, 2023, which was the first published debt data after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office (on May 29, 2023); was N87.38 trillion, and not N21 trillion as reported in the media.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the Total Public Debt published by the DMO comprises the External and Domestic Debt, not only of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) but also of the thirty-six (36) States and the Federal Capital Territory.
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