President Tinubu Government has exceeded 2025 borrowing target by 55.6%.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has exceeded its 2025 borrowing target by a staggering 55.6 percent, after borrowing ₦17.36 trillion from domestic and external sources within the first ten months of the year.
This figure surpasses the ₦10.9 trillion prorated borrowing benchmark set in the 2025 Appropriation Act, and already represents ₦4.28 trillion more than the total borrowing ceiling approved for the entire fiscal year, which stands at ₦13.08 trillion.
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Data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) show that as of October 2025, the Federal Government borrowed ₦15.8 trillion domestically and ₦1.56 trillion externally in the first half of the year.
The Federal Government also plans to raise an additional $2.35 billion (₦3.38 trillion) through a Eurobond issuance, which would push total borrowing to about ₦20.74 trillion. Analysts estimate that total borrowing for the year could approach ₦23 trillion, nearly ₦10 trillion above the approved limit.
Experts warn that this trend, coupled with weak revenue performance, increases the risk of a debt trap, erodes investor confidence, and limits private sector access to credit with adverse effects on growth, employment, and living standards.
According to the 2025 budget, the Federal Government projected ₦54.99 trillion in total expenditure and ₦41.91 trillion in revenue, leaving a deficit of ₦13.08 trillion to be financed mainly through borrowing.
Analysts, however, describe the latest borrowing pattern as evidence of fiscal indiscipline, echoing trends from previous administrations. They warn that excessive domestic borrowing is crowding out private investment and undermining the IMF-backed fiscal consolidation plan, which seeks to lower Nigeria’s debt-service-to-revenue ratio, currently estimated at about 83 percent.
Financial experts including Andrew Uviase (Ecovis OUC), David Adonri (Highcap Securities), Tunde Abidoye (FBNQuest Merchant Bank), and Clifford Egbomeade (public analyst) have attributed the borrowing overshoot to unrealistic revenue assumptions, weak oil output, rising debt service costs, and continued high government spending.
They urged the Tinubu administration to strengthen non-oil revenue mobilisation, cut wasteful expenditures, and implement structural fiscal reforms to restore investor confidence and ensure long-term debt sustainability.
