House of Representatives Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, flagged the debt profile of Nigeria that has gone up to a level it now represents a significant danger to fiscal stability, above the country’s statutory threshold.
Speaking at the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) in Abuja on Monday, Abbas announced that as of the first quarter of 2025, Nigeria’s overall public debt had increased to ₦149.39 trillion (about US$97 billion), from ₦121.7 trillion in 2024.
Even more disturbing, he said, is the 52 percent debt-to-GDP ratio, well above Nigerian law’s 40 percent threshold.
“This breach is a clear signal of pressure on our fiscal sustainability,” Abbas declared. “We need more stringent control, transparent borrowing, and an all-hands-on-deck assurance that every borrowed naira has real economic and social payback.”
He cautioned that some African nations were already in perilous debt, with governments paying more for debt servicing than for healthcare and vital services. “It is not just a budget crisis; it is a crisis of form that requires immediate parliamentary reform,” he added.
In order to contain the risks, Abbas prepared Nigeria to take the lead in formulating a West African Parliamentary Debt Oversight Framework under WAAPAC. The framework will regionalise debt reporting, impose standards of transparency, and equip parliaments with timely intelligence to monitor borrowing.
He also declared a regional capacity-building program to enhance Public Accounts and Finance Committees, handing them new tools for debt sustainability analysis and fiscal risk management.
The Speaker emphasized that borrowing must be purposeful and tied to infrastructure, health, education, and jobs, but not “reckless debt that fuels consumption or corruption.”.
“Parliamentary oversight is not just a numbers game it is about protecting the lives and futures behind the numbers,” Abbas said.
Renouncing the 10th House to profligacy, he promised huge borrowing plans to be put under public hearings under the legislature’s Open Parliament policy, with simple debt reports published for citizens.
WAAPAC conference whose theme was “Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt: The Role of Finance and Public Accounts Committees”* brought together parliamentarians, partners in development, and finance experts in West Africa to consider means of guaranteeing fiscal responsibility across the continent.
