The Presidency has dismissed claims that President Bola Tinubu borrowed 120 trillion naira within three years of assuming office, describing the figures circulating on social media as misleading and a distortion of Nigeria's public debt records.
Dada Olusegun, Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, made the clarification in a statement posted on X on Sunday, November 8, accusing opposition groups of using misleading figures to portray the administration as excessively dependent on borrowing despite removing the petrol subsidy.
The National Assembly, Abuja — file photo
- The viral graphic claimed 16 past leaders borrowed a combined 46 trillion naira in 63 years, against 120 trillion naira under Tinubu in three years
- The Presidency says the 46 trillion naira figure excluded 22.7 trillion naira in Central Bank Ways and Means advances
- Debt Management Office figures put public debt at 87.38 trillion naira in June 2023 and 166.79 trillion naira in June 2026
- In dollar terms, the Presidency says debt rose from $113.4 billion to $120.9 billion — an increase of $7.5 billion
Why the Presidency says the 120 trillion naira figure is misleading
Olusegun argued that the 46 trillion naira figure, which represented Nigeria's debt as of late 2022, excluded 22.7 trillion naira in Central Bank of Nigeria Ways and Means advances. Those advances were formally recognised in the country's debt records in May 2023, increasing recorded debt without representing fresh borrowing by the Tinubu administration.
He also pointed to exchange-rate unification in June 2023. When the rate was unified, he said, the same dollar debt instantly looked 13.4 trillion naira larger on paper overnight, without a single new dollar being borrowed.
Fact-checkers cited in the reports described the comparison as misleading for the same reason: the 46 trillion naira figure was outstanding public debt at the end of 2022, not the total amount borrowed by 16 leaders over 63 years.
Tinubu's fresh borrowing request
The rebuttal comes amid renewed debate over Nigeria's debt profile. Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve a $7.7 billion external borrowing plan to partly finance the 2026 budget deficit, a request conveyed in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary last Wednesday.
That request, worth about 10.79 trillion naira at the budget exchange rate, is separate from the viral graphic dispute, but it is the reason the borrowing argument has returned to the centre of political debate this week.
What happens next
The Senate is yet to conclude action on the $7.7 billion borrowing request in the reports reviewed. Whatever the Senate decides, the Presidency's numbers and the opposition's graphic will keep circulating — and the Debt Management Office figures quoted by both sides remain the reference point for checking either claim.
Credit: The Sun, Salient Times and Daybreak reports of November 8–9, 2026, reporting the statement by Dada Olusegun.
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