Speaker Abbas, ADC, PDP disagree over Tinubu’s ‘responsible borrowing’

By Luminous Jannamike & Gift Odekina

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has advocated stronger oversight, in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, for sustainable growth, saying the President was working assiduously to address Nigeria’s public debt through a non-oil revenue drive.

The speaker, who noted that public debt, if well utilised, could engender growth and development in any country, said Nigeria could leverage responsible borrowing for sustainable development as demonstrated by the Tinubu administration.

But opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and African Democratic Congress, ADC, sharply disagreed that the President was managing the country’s public debt in the right direction.

However, Speaker Abbas noted: “Indeed, public debt, when managed prudently, can be a tool for growth and prosperity. Yet, when left unchecked, it becomes a burden that erodes economic stability and threatens the welfare of future generations.’’

He stated this while delivering his keynote address at the opening of the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees, WAAPAC, organised in collaboration with international development partners, in Abuja yesterday.

The speaker, who was represented by Leader of the House, Prof Julius Ihonvbere, emphasised the “need for stronger oversight, transparent borrowing practices, and a collective resolve to ensure that tangible economic and social returns match every naira borrowed.”

He said: “By 2022, the continent’s total public debt had reached US$1.8 trillion, with external debt alone expected to surpass $1 trillion by 2023. Several countries are now in dangerous debt-to-GDP territory: Sudan at 344 per cent, Angola at 136.8 per cent, Ghana at 84 per cent, Kenya at nearly 70 per cent, and South Africa above 77 per cent.

“In many cases, governments are spending more on servicing debt than on healthcare and other essential services, shrinking the fiscal space available for development.

‘’This continental picture makes clear that Africa faces not just a budgetary concern, but a structural crisis that demands urgent parliamentary attention and coordinated reform. The countries of the West African subregion carry the same burden.

“When we examine the sources of Africa’s external financing, it becomes clear that the weight of debt on our continent is shaped by whom we borrow from and on what terms. Today, Western private lenders hold about 35 per cent of Africa’s government debt through banks, asset managers and oil traders.

“Multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank and the IMF, account for another 39 per cent, while bilateral loans from other governments comprise 13 per cent. Chinese creditors, despite much of the public debate, hold only 12 per cent.

“To place this in sharper focus, in 2019, bondholders alone represented 27 per cent of Africa’s external debt, making them the single largest creditor group, ahead of China at 13 per cent.”

Speaker Abbas stated that if Africa was to grow stronger, the countries must not only negotiate fairer terms of borrowing but also rethink their dependence on external finance.

He stated that the conference could not have come at a more opportune time, “as our nations face mounting fiscal pressures that demand stronger legislative oversight of public debt and borrowing.”

“In Nigeria, recent available data indicate that our debt trajectory has reached a critical point, showing that as of the first quarter of 2025, the total public debt stood at N149.39 trillion, equivalent to about US$97 billion, with domestic borrowing making up 53 per cent and external borrowing accounting for 47 per cent.

‘’This represents a sharp rise from N121.7 trillion the previous year, underscoring how quickly the burden has grown.

“Even more concerning is the debt-to-GDP ratio, which now stands at roughly 52 per cent, well above the statutory ceiling of 40 per cent set by our own laws. This breach of our debt limit signals the strain on fiscal sustainability.

‘’It highlights the urgent need for stronger oversight, transparent borrowing practices, and a collective resolve to ensure that tangible economic and social returns match every naira borrowed.”

ADC, PDP react

Reacting yesterday, African Democratic Congress, ADC, has blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for plunging Nigeria into a N149.39 trillion debt crisis, warning that the burden will deepen hardship for citizens.

The party’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Jackie Wayas,, said the debt, which stood at US$97 billion in the first quarter of 2025, reflected reckless borrowing and wasteful spending by the APC-led government. She noted that with domestic borrowing at 53 per cent and external debt at 47 per cent, the administration had ‘mortgaged’ the future of Nigerians.

“ADC has consistently warned Nigerians about the ruinous path of the APC’s unbridled borrowing and wasteful spending.

“We cautioned that no nation can survive with such recklessness, and we stressed that these loans, taken without strategic investment or accountability, would only saddle generations of Nigerians with unbearable hardship. Today, those warnings are manifesting before our very eyes,” Wayas said.

The party warned that ordinary Nigerians would bear the cost of the rising debt through higher taxes, inflation, unemployment, and deteriorating public services.

“N149.39 trillion in just the first quarter of 2025. Who will repay these loans? The answer is painfully clear: it is the ordinary Nigerian people who will carry this crushing burden through higher taxes, inflation, unemployment, and diminished public services,’’ Wayas said.

On its part, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said Nigeria must build strong institutions, instead of relying on ‘strong men’, stressing that independence of the legislature was critical to fiscal responsibility.

PDP’s Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, who spoke for the party, said: “When next we elect officers of the National Assembly, we must insist that they choose their own leaders, rather than being hand-picked from the Villa. That way, they will have the courage to do what is right.’’

He further called for regulatory and procurement agencies to live up to their responsibilities, noting that Nigeria had enough institutions on paper but lacked effective implementation.

“We have more than enough regulatory agencies. It’s just that none of them is alive to its responsibilities. What we need are men of character with fiscal discipline and the moral fibre to say yes when necessary and no when necessary,” he added.

Osadolor alluded to the strict manner former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, managed the National Assembly.

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