Peter Obi, Labour Party’s presidential flagbearer in the 2023 elections, has expressed grave concerns over Nigeria’s escalating debt crisis, describing the current burden of ₦187 trillion as unsustainable.
Commenting via his official X account on Tuesday, Obi criticised the National Assembly’s recent approval of new external borrowings: $21 billion, €2.2 billion, and ¥15 billion for the 2025–2026 budget cycle. The Senate also sanctioned a ₦750.98 billion domestic bond and a €65 million grant.
According to him, “It also approved a N750.98 billion domestic bond issuance and a €65 65million grant.”
He calculated that with the existing ₦149.39 trillion in public debt recorded as of Q1 2025, plus previously approved loans of ₦37.2 trillion, Nigeria’s total debt now hovers around ₦187 trillion and could surpass ₦200 trillion by year-end.
Obi contextualised this figure against GDP statistics, explaining that before rebasing, the national GDP stood at ₦269.2 trillion (about $180 billion). At that level, the debt-to-GDP ratio approached 70%. Even with the recent rebasing that increased the GDP to ₦372.8 trillion ($243.7 billion), the debt still accounts for over 50%, the highest in Nigeria’s history.
”Even after the rebasing… the government would have borrowed about 50.16 % of the new GDP…”
Despite these staggering figures, Obi emphasised the lack of improvement in crucial sectors like health, education, and infrastructure.
“While education is underfunded and standard in continuous decline, healthcare remains inaccessible to millions of Nigerians, particularly the poor,” he said.
He also cited worsening insecurity, with more than 10,217 fatalities and 672 villages displaced between May 2023 and May 2025, despite security spending rising from ₦2.98 trillion in 2023 to ₦4.91 trillion in 2025.
“Infrastructure decay persists… about 135,000km of our 195,000km of roads remaining unpaved,” Obi added, also noting that power generation remains under 5,000 MW for over 200 million citizens.
The former Anambra governor also highlighted alarming humanitarian issues, such as 652 child deaths due to malnutrition in Northern Nigeria. He referenced Médecins Sans Frontières’ recent warnings, pointing to Katsina State as one of the worst-hit areas.
Calling for a rethinking of borrowing practices, Obi stressed that loans should fund tangible development projects and produce measurable results.
“…this current pattern of borrowing without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact is simply mortgaging the future of our children.”
He concluded with a call for a shift to disciplined economic management, reduced government waste, and greater investment in human capital.
