Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has refuted media reports suggesting that he condemned Nigeria’s borrowing practices, stressing that his comments at a regional conference were misrepresented.
At the 11th Annual Conference of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) in Abuja, Abbas had warned that Nigeria’s debt profile—₦149.39 trillion in Q1 2025, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 52 per cent—posed serious fiscal risks. His remarks were widely reported as an outright rejection of borrowing.
In a clarification issued through his Special Adviser on New Media, Jowosimi Enitan, the Speaker maintained that he did not oppose borrowing, but rather called for prudent debt management, transparency, and stronger parliamentary oversight.
“For the record, Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, never condemned borrowing,” Enitan said. “He emphasised that debt, if managed prudently, can drive growth and prosperity. What he opposed is reckless borrowing without accountability.”
Enitan noted that Abbas’s message focused on ensuring every naira borrowed translates into tangible development—roads, schools, hospitals, and innovation. He also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s fiscal reforms, highlighting that Nigeria met its 2025 revenue targets ahead of schedule without fresh borrowing.
The Speaker reaffirmed that debt remains a useful fiscal tool but must be deployed responsibly, with parliament playing a central role in safeguarding Nigeria’s financial future.
“Oversight of public debt is a constitutional duty and a moral responsibility of parliament,” Enitan said. “This is about fiscal sustainability, not playing to the gallery of mischief-makers.”
