The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has issued a stark warning over Nigeria\u2019s escalating public debt, which he says has surpassed the country\u2019s legal limit and now poses a serious threat to fiscal sustainability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking Monday in Abuja at the opening of the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC), Abbas revealed that Nigeria\u2019s total public debt reached \u20a6149.39 trillion (approximately $97 billion) in the first quarter of 2025 \u2013 a sharp increase from \u20a6121.7 trillion the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He emphasized that the debt-to-GDP ratio has risen to roughly 52%, significantly exceeding the statutory ceiling of 40%. Abbas described this breach as \u201ca signal of strain on fiscal sustainability\u201d and stressed the urgent need for \u201cstronger oversight, transparent borrowing practices, and a collective resolve to ensure that tangible economic and social returns match every naira borrowed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Speaker warned that the situation is part of a broader regional crisis, with many African governments now spending more on debt servicing than on essential services like healthcare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is not just a budgetary concern, but a structural crisis that demands urgent parliamentary attention and coordinated reform,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He announced Nigeria\u2019s proposal to establish a West African Parliamentary Debt Oversight Framework under WAAPAC, as part of Nigeria’s effort to address the fiscal challenge. This initiative aims to harmonize debt reporting, set transparency standards, and provide parliaments with timely data to improve scrutiny of borrowing practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also disclosed plans for a regional capacity-building program to equip Public Accounts and Finance Committees with modern debt sustainability analysis tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While acknowledging that borrowing can be necessary for development, Abbas insisted that \u201cborrowing should support infrastructure, health, education, and industries that create jobs and reduce poverty.\u201d He firmly declared that \u201creckless debt that fuels consumption or corruption must be exposed and rejected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reiterating the 10th House\u2019s commitment to accountability, Abbas said major borrowing proposals would undergo public hearings and simplified debt reports would be made available to citizens under its Open Parliament policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conference, focused on the theme \u201cStrengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt,\u201d brings together parliamentarians, development partners, and financial experts from across West Africa to develop solutions for enhanced fiscal responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has issued a stark warning over Nigeria\u2019s escalating public debt, which he says has surpassed the country\u2019s legal limit and now poses a serious threat to fiscal sustainability. Speaking Monday in Abuja at the opening of the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC), Abbas revealed that Nigeria\u2019s total public debt reached \u20a6149.39 trillion (approximately $97 billion) in the first quarter of 2025 \u2013 a sharp increase from \u20a6121.7 trillion the previous year. He emphasized that the debt-to-GDP ratio has risen to roughly 52%, significantly exceeding the statutory ceiling of 40%. Abbas described this breach as \u201ca signal of strain on fiscal sustainability\u201d and stressed the urgent need for \u201cstronger oversight, transparent borrowing practices, and a collective resolve to ensure that tangible economic and social returns match every naira borrowed.\u201d The Speaker warned that the situation is part of a broader regional crisis, with many African governments now spending more on debt servicing than on essential services like healthcare. \u201cThis is not just a budgetary concern, but a structural crisis that demands urgent parliamentary attention and coordinated reform,\u201d he stated. He announced Nigeria\u2019s proposal to establish a West African Parliamentary Debt Oversight Framework under WAAPAC, as part of Nigeria’s effort to address the fiscal challenge. This initiative aims to harmonize debt reporting, set transparency standards, and provide parliaments with timely data to improve scrutiny of borrowing practices. He also disclosed plans for a regional capacity-building program to equip Public Accounts and Finance Committees with modern debt sustainability analysis tools. While acknowledging that borrowing can be necessary for development, Abbas insisted that \u201cborrowing should support infrastructure, health, education, and industries that create jobs and reduce poverty.\u201d He firmly declared that \u201creckless debt that fuels consumption or corruption must be exposed and rejected.\u201d Reiterating the 10th House\u2019s commitment to accountability, Abbas said major borrowing proposals would undergo public hearings and simplified debt reports would be made available to citizens under its Open Parliament policy. The conference, focused on the theme \u201cStrengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt,\u201d brings together parliamentarians, development partners, and financial experts from across West Africa to develop solutions for enhanced fiscal responsibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26860"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26867,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26860\/revisions\/26867"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}