National Assembly asked to reject Tinubu’s fresh $24b loan request

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the National Assembly to reject the Bola Tinubu administration’s latest request to borrow $24 billion, warning that Nigeria’s growing debt profile is fast becoming unsustainable.

In a statement released on Wednesday, SERAP expressed serious concern over the federal government’s borrowing spree, cautioning that approval of the new loan would push the country’s total public debt to a staggering ₦183 trillion. The organisation described this figure as “alarming and clearly not in the public interest.”

“The National Assembly must immediately refuse to approve the Tinubu administration’s request to borrow $24bn, which is expected to increase Nigeria’s debt to N183tn. The growing national debt is clearly not sustainable, and not in the public interest, the statement read.

President Bola Tinubu had asked the National Assembly to approve a fresh $21.5 billion external loan and a ₦758 billion domestic bond to fund key sectors and settle outstanding pension liabilities.

The requests were contained in separate letters sent to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and read during plenary sessions on Tuesday.

The proposals have now been referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further legislative action, with a report expected in two weeks.

According to the President, the loan will be used to finance critical projects in infrastructure, health, education, and water supply across the country.

In a related request, Tinubu asked the Senate to authorise the issuance of the Nigerian government bonds in the domestic debt market, totalling ₦757.9billion, to address pension arrears under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

He also requested approval to raise an additional $2billion from the domestic market to support investments in critical sectors of the economy. This request has also been sent to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for review.

Earlier, the President had written to the House of Representatives to seek approval for the revised 2025–2026 external borrowing plan.

According to the letter read by the Speaker, the borrowing plan includes $21.5 billion, €2.2 billion, ¥15 billion Japanese yen, and a €65 billion grant.

It noted that the loans are intended to address the country’s infrastructure deficit and improve employment, among other objectives.

He also reiterated his request to borrow ₦757.98 billion from the domestic market to settle outstanding pension liabilities.

According to figures released by the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s total public debt stood at ₦144.6 trillion as of December 31, 2024.

The data shows that external debt accounted for ₦70.2trillion, while domestic debt amounted to ₦74.3trillion.

A breakdown of the figures reveals that the federal government was responsible for ₦62.9trillion of the external debt and ₦70.4trillion of the domestic debt.

In contrast, state governments owed ₦7.3 trillion externally and ₦3.9 trillion domestically.