Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said the recent approval for a fresh startling N1.15 trillion domestic borrowing by the National Assembly has indicated that President Bola Tinubu is allegedly addicted to debt and policy inconsistencies.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Bolaji Abdullahi in a statement, said despite Tinubu’s public claim that Nigeria had met its 2025 non-oil revenue targets as at August, his administration has continued to deepen the country’s debt crisis.
The ADC as a party, tasked civil society organisations, the international financial community and the Nigerian people to demand an immediate freeze on non-critical new loan approvals; a full publication of all revenue inflows and debt disbursements for 2025; an independent verification of non-oil revenue claims and a legally binding debt ceiling “to prevent this abuse of the national purse.”
It stated that Tinubu must be reminded that the country cannot borrow its way out of an economic crisis, allegedly fuelled by incompetence.
According to the party’s statement “The latest approval by the National Assembly of N1.15 trillion in fresh domestic borrowing by the APC-led Federal Government exposes the contradictions and dangerous fiscal trajectory of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
“Only a few months ago, the President himself declared that Nigeria had met and surpassed its non-oil revenue targets, generating N20.59 trillion in just the first eight months of 2025, a figure his media handlers and cabinet officials paraded as proof of sound economic management.
“Not long before that, the administration also promised Nigerians that domestic borrowing would be phased out, and that revenue growth would reduce the need to mortgage the nation’s future.
“Yet, here we are again, watching this government take a contradictory and irresponsible detour from its own stated policy direction.
“As recently reported, if all of President Tinubu’s loan requests for 2025 are approved and disbursed, Nigeria’s total public debt could increase by N40.61 trillion, bringing the national debt stock to a staggering N193 trillion.
“This projection, based on verified figures from the Debt Management Office, reveals that as of June 30, 2025, Nigeria’s debt already stood at N152.4 trillion, with N80.55 trillion in domestic debt and N71.85 trillion in external liabilities. Let it be clearly stated that this is reckless debt accumulation wrapped in propaganda.
“A government that claims to have hit record-breaking revenue should not be borrowing. A government that promised an end to domestic loans should not be submitting back-to-back loan requests totalling trillions of naira.
“The APC-led government is suffering from a worsening case of economic policy schizophrenia, where the left hand borrows blindly while the right hand issues press statements about fiscal prudence.
“To add insult to injury, these loans are being pushed through by the APC-dominated National Assembly, while everyday Nigerians are suffering from the rising cost of living.
“The Tinubu administration claims that headline inflation has dropped to 18.02 percent, and food inflation to 16.87 percent as of September 2025. Yet, in the open markets across the country, everything has become more expensive since Tinubu came into office. Make no mistake, Nigerians are not experiencing statistical relief, they are experiencing economic suffocation.
“President Tinubu must come clean to the Nigerian people. You cannot claim that your house is in order while taking new loans to stop the roof from collapsing. You cannot say revenue has improved and still insist on borrowing more than any administration in Nigeria’s history.
“As a responsible party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), therefore, calls on civil society organisations, the international financial community and the Nigerian people to demand the following from President Tinubu: First, an immediate freeze on non-critical new loan approvals. Second, a full publication of all revenue inflows and debt disbursements for 2025.
Third, an independent verification of non-oil revenue claims. Fourth, a legally binding debt ceiling to prevent this abuse of the national purse.
“Nigerians are watching as our collective future is being mortgaged. And the President must be reminded that we cannot borrow our way out of a crisis that is fuelled by economic incompetence.”
