Presidential media aide, Dada Olusegun, has attributed increasing Nigeria’s debt profile to the collapsing naira value under the watch of President Bola Tinubu.
While responding to the report on Nigeria’s debt skyrocketing in a recent post on X, Olusegun made some clarifications, citing “naira depreciation and high exchange rate” among other factors responsible for Nigeria’s increasing debt under Tinubu’s watch.
Under Tinubu’s watch, the debt profile of Nigeria increased by N24 Trillion in three months rising to N121 Trillion, according to the Debt Management Office.
Olusegun said: “The total debt was reduced in dollar terms by $16.77bn or 18.34% as the increase was driven majorly by naira depreciation. The office used an official exchange rate of ₦1,330/$ to convert external debts to naira from ₦899.39 used to convert the debt in December 2023. So, the increase is also attributed to naira depreciation and high exchange rate.”
He said the debt represents external and internal borrowings by the federal government, the 36 state governments, and the Federal Capital Territory. So, it is not right to completely attribute the debt to the FG alone.
He added: “Securitisation of a portion of the ₦7.3tn Ways and Means advances at the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
While the naira has been on the decline before Mr Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, it astronomically depreciated in value after the president floated the Nigerian currency.
Since Tinubu floated the naira, it has reduced from about N800 to a dollar to N1,500 to a dollar.
Meanwhile, the government has kept on blaming the fall of naira on the activities of cryptocurrency giants Binance and Bureau De Change operators.
Bayo Onanuga, a Media Aide to the President, said: “Look at what Binance is doing to our economy. That’s why the government moved against Binance. Some people sit down on the cyberspace to determine our exchange rate, hijacking the role of the CBN. They just sit down and fix what they like.”