DMO, LP, Others Query FG’s Borrowing Culture, Demand Transparency

By; PETER NOSAKHARE, Kaduna

As the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) pushes back on debt sustainability concerns, the Debt Management Office (DMO), Labour Party (LP) and other stakeholders have demanded a more transparent borrowing and documentation culture.

Meanwhile, data in the public space put the public debt stock as at the end of the first quarter at 149.39 trillion Naira, the DMO, which oversees the management of the public debt, casts doubt on the transparency of the accumulation.

On its part, the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAuGF) said it is auditing the figure that is currently in the public.

The position of both the DMO and the OAuGF is not strange. A former minister of finance under late President Muhammadu Buhari, Zainab Ahmed, had explained that some of the sub-national debts fall short of full disclosure and real-time documentation.

Indeed, there are caveats in the national debt statistics in this regard, with some cautioning that some states are one year behind on updating the state of their indebtedness.

At the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) held in Abuja yesterday, the DMO Director-General, Patience Oniha, called for robust debt management practices to ensure policy decisions are based on reliable information, warning that “transparency” remains the way forward in achieving debt sustainability.

Oniha, who was represented by the Deputy Director of Policy Strategy and Risk Management, Maryam Omar, said Nigeria remains one of the largest borrowers in West Africa alongside Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, a status driven by rising global interest rates, volatile commodity prices, and weak domestic revenue mobilisation.

She attributed rising borrowing costs to global interest rate hikes, which have increased the cost of sourcing funds from both external and domestic markets, a problem compounded by weak domestic capacity.

She said: “Public debt in one country can transmit to others due to regional interconnectivity and global market shocks.

“High interest rates, volatile commodity prices and uncertain global economic prospects affect the management of debt across the region.”

She urged governments in the region to strengthen data systems, especially debt management information systems, while taking advantage of technical support offered by partners such as the Commonwealth Secretariat.

“Our debt structure is highly exposed to foreign currency risk. The volatility of exchange rates means external borrowing carries significant vulnerability. Strengthening revenue sources, transparency and accountability remains the only sustainable path forward,” she warned.

The Auditor-General for the Federation, Shaakaa Chira, disclosed that as of December 2024, Nigeria’s public debt had climbed to 143.5 trillion Naira, comprising N68.8 trillion external and 74.6 trillion Naira domestic components.

He also noted that while the figures are still being audited, they illustrate the scale of the fiscal burden facing the country.

Speaking on the role of the Supreme Audit Institution of Nigeria, the Auditor-General said his office is committed to producing evidence-based audit reports that provide the Public Accounts Committee with factual and reliable data.

The reports, he stressed, will serve as the primary source of independent financial analysis on debt and guarantee objectivity in reporting.

“As Auditor-General, I examine compliance with borrowing laws and fiscal responsibility requirements. I assess the sustainability of debt levels and report cases where value is not derived from borrowed funds. Through performance audits, we verify whether the loans contracted deliver tangible benefits to citizens,” he said.

Chira explained that his office provides technical services to Parliament by preparing comprehensive audit reports with dedicated chapters on debt management, publishing findings in timely and accessible formats, and ensuring that misuse or misreporting of debt is exposed to the public.

“We act as the eyes and ears of the Public Accounts Committee,” he said. “By reporting transparently, we build citizen trust and enhance the credibility of debt oversight.”

Chairperson of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, Grace Ike, said the media must amplify audit findings and legislative scrutiny to ensure debt accountability is not left to parliament and auditors alone.

In a related development the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) dismissed reports attributed to the Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, to the effect that he accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of engaging in reckless borrowing and accumulating unsubstantiated debts.

The committee, in a statement, described the reports as inaccurate, misleading, and false, stating that the Speaker’s remarks, delivered by House Majority Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, contained no such accusation.

The statement, signed by PAC’s Media Consultant, Joshua Afolabi, expressed regret that robust discussions on debt sustainability in the West African sub-region had been “twisted for cheap political grandstanding.”

The statement quoted the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives, Bamidele Salam, as urging the broadcast media that covered the event to make available the full video recording of the speaker’s speech to interested persons to clear all doubts as regards the content of the speech.

“For the purpose of emphasis, there was no divergence whatsoever between the positions of the Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dr Tajudeen Abbas, who both spoke at the event on the sustainable index of Nigeria’s current debt and macro-economic stability which flows from various ongoing reforms in Nigeria’s fiscal space”, the statement said.