KEY POINTS
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Tinubu’s aide rejected claims that the Federal Government borrowed ₦120trn in three years.
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He said public debt rose by $7.5bn between June 2023 and June 2026.
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Olusegun said monthly FAAC allocations increased to ₦2.4trn by September 2026.
Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Social Media, has rejected claims that the Federal Government borrowed ₦120 trillion within three years of the president’s administration.
Olusegun described the figure as opposition propaganda, arguing that it misrepresents Nigeria’s public debt by failing to account for exchange-rate changes and the country’s existing debt obligations before Tinubu assumed office.
His response followed comments by Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), who challenged the president to explain how his administration had used funds saved from the removal of the petrol subsidy and proceeds from borrowing.
In a post on X on Saturday, Obi asked Tinubu to account for the ₦15.8 trillion he said had been saved from subsidy removal, as well as more than $100 billion he alleged the government had borrowed.
Tinubu’s Aide Questions Previous Debt Figures
Responding on Sunday, Olusegun disputed the claim that Tinubu’s administration borrowed ₦120 trillion in three years, compared with ₦46 trillion accumulated by 16 previous administrations over 63 years.
He argued that the ₦46 trillion figure, calculated in late 2022, excluded ₦22.7 trillion in Ways and Means advances from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Olusegun also questioned the exchange rate used in calculating Nigeria’s foreign debt at the time, saying the figures were converted at an artificial rate of ₦448 to the dollar when the street exchange rate was above ₦700.
According to him, the unification of the exchange rate in June 2023 increased the naira value of the country’s existing foreign debt by ₦13.4 trillion on paper, without the government borrowing additional dollars.
He maintained that the apparent increase in the naira value of public debt should not be interpreted as fresh borrowing.
Aide Says Dollar-Denominated Debt Rose by $7.5bn
Olusegun said Nigeria’s public debt increased from $113.4 billion in June 2023 to $120.9 billion by June 2026.
He described the difference of $7.5 billion as a more accurate indication of the increase in the country’s dollar-denominated debt during the period, disputing opposition claims that the Tinubu administration had borrowed more than $100 billion.
In a video accompanying his post, he said Nigeria’s total public debt stood at ₦87.4 trillion at the end of June 2023, when Tinubu was in his first month in office.
He argued that $113.4 billion of the country’s existing debt predated the current administration, adding that it was misleading to attribute the entire debt stock to Tinubu.
Olusegun also criticised Obi for sharing what he described as inaccurate information about the government’s borrowing record.
FG Aide Links Higher FAAC Allocations to Subsidy Removal
The presidential aide also defended the government’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy, arguing that the policy had increased the amount of revenue distributed to states and local governments.
He said monthly allocations through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) rose from ₦656 billion in April 2023 to ₦2.4 trillion by September 2026.
The figures were presented by Olusegun as evidence of the increased funds available to subnational governments following the removal of the subsidy.
However, his response focused on disputing the debt figures and defending the government’s fiscal policies. It did not provide a detailed breakdown of how the funds saved from subsidy removal had been spent.
