House of Representatives Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, has raised the alarm over Nigeria’s spiralling debt, warning it has surpassed legal limits and now poses a serious threat to fiscal sustainability.
Speaking at the 11th Annual Conference of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) in Abuja, Abbas disclosed that Nigeria’s total public debt climbed to N149.39 trillion (about US$97bn) in Q1 2025, up from N121.7 trillion a year earlier. The debt-to-GDP ratio now stands at 52 percent, breaching the 40 percent ceiling prescribed by law.
“This breach is a red flag for our economy. Oversight must ensure every naira borrowed delivers real economic and social returns,” Abbas warned, stressing that reckless debt tied to consumption or corruption “must be exposed and rejected.”
The Speaker announced Nigeria’s push for a West African Parliamentary Debt Oversight Framework to standardise debt reporting, enhance transparency, and empower parliaments with timely data for scrutiny.
He also pledged that under the House’s Open Parliament policy, borrowing plans would undergo public hearings, while simplified debt reports would be shared with citizens to deepen accountability.