SERAP Asks National Assembly To Reject Tinubu Administration’s Fresh $24billion Loan Request

Citing worries over Nigeria's quickly rising debt profile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the National Assembly to reject the administration of President Bola Tinubu's new proposal to borrow $24 billion.

The country's overall public debt will rise to a startling ?183 trillion if the new loan is approved, according to a statement issued by SERAP on Wednesday. The group called this amount blatantly unsustainable and against the interests of the people.

"The Tinubu administration's plan to borrow $24 billion, which is anticipated to raise Nigeria's debt to N183 trillion, must be rejected by the National Assembly right now. According to the statement, the nation's mounting debt is obviously unsustainable and not in the public interest.

President Bola Tinubu had asked the National Assembly to approve a fresh $21.5 billion external loan and a ?758 billion domestic bond to fund key sectors and settle outstanding pension liabilities.

 

The requests were contained in separate letters sent to both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and read during plenary sessions on Tuesday.

 

The proposals have now been referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for further legislative action, with a report expected in two weeks.

 

According to the President, the loan will be used to finance critical projects in infrastructure, health, education, and water supply across the country.

 

In a related request, Tinubu asked the Senate to authorise the issuance of the Nigerian government bonds in the domestic debt market, totalling ?757.9billion, to address pension arrears under the Contributory Pension Scheme.

 

He also requested approval to raise an additional $2billion from the domestic market to support investments in critical sectors of the economy. This request has also been sent to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for review.

 

Earlier, the President had written to the House of Representatives to seek approval for the revised 2025–2026 external borrowing plan

According to the letter read by the Speaker, the borrowing plan includes $21.5 billion, €2.2 billion, ¥15 billion Japanese yen, and a €65 billion grant.

 

It stated that among other goals, the loans are meant to help the nation's infrastructure deficit and increase jobs.

In order to pay up pending pension obligations, he also restated his proposal to borrow ?757.98 billion from the domestic market.

As of December 31, 2024, Nigeria's total national debt was ?144.6 trillion, according to data made public by the Debt Management Office (DMO).

According to the report, domestic debt was ?74.3 trillion, while external debt was ?70.2 trillion.

According to a breakdown of the numbers, the federal government was in charge of ?70.4 trillion of the domestic debt and ?62.9 trillion of the external debt.

State governments, on the other hand, owing ?3.9 trillion at home and ?7.3 trillion abroad.