Nigeria’s combined public debt for the federal and state governments reached N159.27 trillion at the close of the fourth quarter of 2025, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has announced.
The new total marks a rise of N5.98 trillion from the N153.29 trillion recorded at the end of the third quarter and is N14.6 trillion higher than the N144.67 trillion posted in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The DMO said in a statement on Wednesday: “The public debt profile consists of the domestic and external debt stocks of the federal and subnational governments — the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT).
“The total domestic debt was N84.84 trillion ($59.11 billion), while the total external debt was N74.42 trillion ($51.85 billion).”
It further disclosed that domestic debt “stood at N74.38 trillion in December 2024, representing an increase of N10.47 trillion or 14.1 percent to the current figure,” while foreign debt increased by N4.14 trillion from the N70.29 trillion recorded in December 2024.
Of the total domestic debt, the federal government accounted for N80.48 trillion — higher by N2.67 trillion compared with the third-quarter figure, the DMO stated.
The domestic debt stock owed by states and the FCT rose slightly to N4.36 trillion from N3.96 trillion in the previous quarter.
For external debt, the federal government’s share stood at N66.26 trillion ($51.85 billion), while states and the FCT accounted for N8.15 trillion ($5.68 billion).
The debt agency added that the conversion of external debt to naira was based on “the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official exchange rate of N1435.25 kobo/$1 as at December 31, 2025.”
In a related development on March 31, 2026, President Bola Tinubu had asked the National Assembly to approve external loans totalling $6 billion.
The request was contained in two separate letters addressed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In the first letter, Tinubu sought approval for a structured total return swap (TRS) external financing programme of up to $5 billion from First Abu Dhabi Bank of the United Arab Emirates.
In a swift move, the Senate considered and passed the request following a report from its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, with the House of Representatives also giving its nod the same day.
The loans are intended to help plug budget deficits, finance critical infrastructure projects, and support debt servicing, with a significant portion earmarked for capital expenditure in the 2025 and 2026 budgets.
The first component involves a structured Total Return Swap (TRS) external financing programme of up to $5 billion from First Abu Dhabi Bank of the United Arab Emirates.
The second part covers an additional $1 billion, reportedly from Citi or UK sources, to bolster overall fiscal needs.
This development aligns with the National Assembly’s recent passage of the ₦68.3 trillion 2026 national budget, which incorporated adjustments requested by the president to accommodate higher spending plans.
As of mid-April 2026, the approval paves the way for the executive arm to proceed with drawing down the facilities, subject to final terms and conditions with the lenders. No further legislative hurdles remain for the borrowing plan.
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