An analysis of data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) reveals that Nigeria spent N2.6 trillion on domestic debt servicing and $1.3 billion on external debt obligations between January and March 2025.
This follows earlier reports indicating that from January to December 2024, the country used N5.8 trillion for domestic debt servicing, while $4.6 billion was spent servicing external debts.
As reported by SaharaReporters, President Bola Tinubu, in his speech commemorating two years in office, outlined what he called his administration’s “successes.” Among them was the claim that the debt service-to-revenue ratio had reduced from 100% in 2022 to 40% in 2024.
To verify this, SaharaReporters examined data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) economic reports, which are released on a monthly and quarterly basis.
“Our debt position is improving. While foreign exchange revaluation pushed our debt-to-GDP ratio to around 53%, our debt service-to-revenue ratio dropped from nearly 100% in 2022 to under 40% by 2024,” the President, Tinubu had said.
However, data tells a different story.
According to the CBN economic report, retained revenue by the federal government for Q4 2024 was N2.519 trillion, while debt servicing in the same quarter stood at N2.199 trillion.
In Q3 2024, retained revenue reached N2.282 trillion, while debt servicing totaled N2.055 trillion.
The figures for Q2 2024 showed retained revenue of N2.408 trillion and debt servicing of N3.772 trillion.
For Q1 2024, retained revenue stood at N1.445 trillion, compared to N1.691 trillion spent on debt servicing, as per the same CBN report.
Overall, in 2024, total retained revenue by the Tinubu-led federal government was N8.654 trillion, while total debt servicing payments amounted to N9.717 trillion.
This puts the actual debt service-to-revenue ratio at 112%, significantly contradicting the 40% ratio publicly claimed by the Tinubu administration.
Amid these revelations, there are mounting concerns over the increasing burden of debt servicing in Nigeria, with many observers warning that it continues to divert critical funds away from national development needs.
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