The Presidency on Tuesday justified the nation’s rising debt portfolio saying borrowing remains a legitimate instrument for financing growth and reforms.
It also stressed that sustainability and improved revenue mobilisation, not alarmist soundbites, should define Nigeria’s debt conversation.
Reacting to recent assertions by opposition politician and former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, presidential spokesperson, Chief Sunday Dare, said the PDP chieftain chose “spectacle over substance” in his recent television appearance, where he derided government borrowing with remarks about “borrowing from OPay and Moniepoint.”
Dare, in a posting on his verified X handle, @SundayDareSD, explained that Nigeria’s public debt stood at ₦149.39 trillion as of March 31, 2025, according to the Debt Management Office.
He clarified that the surge from the previous year was not caused by reckless new loans but largely by the naira’s depreciation, which raised the local currency value of already existing foreign obligations.
The presidential media aide noted that the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio remains moderate at between 40 and 45 percent far below South Africa’s 70 percent or Ghana’s over 90 percent.
His words, “The real challenge lies in revenue mobilisation, not runaway borrowing. Encouragingly, revenues are improving, strengthening our capacity to service obligations.”
Dare dismissed Melaye’s critique as uninformed, emphasisimg that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is focused on sustainable economic reforms.
According to him, “Borrowing is a legitimate tool for financing growth and reforms. What matters is sustainability, not soundbites. Unfortunately, Dino prefers theatrics to truth.”
He added that until Melaye acquaints himself with “basic economics,” his interventions will remain what they have always been, “entertainment, not enlightenment.”
Deji Elumoye
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