Sahara Reporters has taken to ity official X handle and announced that, The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has raised the alarm over Nigeria’s ballooning debt crisis, warning that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has pushed the nation’s borrowing to “a dangerous and unsustainable level.”
Speaking at the opening of the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC), held at the National Assembly on Monday, Abbas lamented that Nigeria’s debt had skyrocketed to an unprecedented ₦149.39 trillion (about $97 billion) as of Q1 2025, far above the statutory ceiling and posing a grave threat to fiscal stability.
“This is not just a budgetary concern, but a structural crisis that demands urgent parliamentary intervention and coordinated reform,” Abbas declared.
The Speaker warned that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio has surged to 52 percent, well beyond the 40 percent limit set by Nigerian law. He cautioned that reckless borrowing, if left unchecked, could plunge Africa’s largest economy into a full-blown debt trap.
“Borrowing should support infrastructure, health, education, and industries that create jobs and reduce poverty. Reckless debt that fuels consumption or corruption must be exposed and rejected,” he thundered, insisting that every borrowed naira must translate into real, measurable benefits for citizens.
He also noted that several African countries already spend more on servicing debts than on healthcare and essential services, a trajectory Nigeria must urgently avoid.
To tackle the fiscal time bomb, Abbas announced that Nigeria would champion the creation of a West African Parliamentary Debt Oversight Framework under WAAPAC. The initiative, he said, will harmonise debt reporting across the region, enforce transparency standards, and provide parliaments with real-time data to scrutinise borrowing practices.
In addition, he unveiled a regional capacity-building programme for finance and public accounts committees, equipping lawmakers with modern tools for debt sustainability analysis and fiscal risk management.
Reaffirming the 10th House’s commitment to accountability under its Open Parliament policy, Abbas pledged that major borrowing proposals will undergo public hearings, while simplified debt reports will be released to Nigerians.
“Oversight is not just about figures, but about the lives and futures behind those figures,” the Speaker stressed.
This year’s WAAPAC conference, themed “Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt: The Role of Finance and Public Accounts Committees,” brought together lawmakers from across West Africa, financial experts, and development partners. Abbas urged delegates to treat the deliberations as a matter of survival for Africa’s economies, stressing that their resolutions would strengthen fiscal responsibility and accountability across the continent.
As Nigeria stares down a debt mountain, the Speaker’s fiery warning may set the stage for a dramatic showdown between the legislature and the executive over borrowing practices – a battle that could decide the nation’s financial future.
PIONEER NEWS 