Atiku demands accountability for existing debt, $1.5b World Bank loan - The Guardian Nigeria News
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to account for existing borrowings before securing the proposed $1.5 billion World Bank loan.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government’s securitised Ways and Means debt declined by N613.34 billion in the second quarter of 2026, marking its first recorded reduction since the obligation was added to Nigeria’s public debt stock in 2023.
Atiku made the call yesterday in a statement by the Director of Strategic Communications, ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, amid concerns over the country’s rising debt profile and the impact of government borrowing on Nigerians.
He said Nigerians deserved greater transparency on how previous loans had been spent and the results achieved before the Federal Government incurred additional debt.
The statement cited Nigeria’s public debt at N166.79 trillion, arguing that the proposed borrowing would further increase the financial burden on citizens already contending with rising costs of food, fuel and electricity.
“Nigerians were promised that painful policies would free resources for development. They have felt the pain. Where is the development?” Atiku asked.
He said the per capita share of Nigeria’s public debt had risen to N716,822 from N383,442 three years earlier, representing 87 per cent increase.
“Tinubu has made today difficult and tomorrow more uncertain. He cannot keep loading debt onto the country and expect Nigerians to applaud programme titles,” he said.
He therefore called on the government to publish details of the projects to be financed, the communities and citizens expected to benefit, programme targets, borrowing and disbursement terms, and a timetable for monitoring implementation.
The Federal Government is seeking a fresh World Bank $1.5 billion loan to expand social protection, improve early childhood development and scale up climate-resilient interventions, even as Nigeria’s total public debt climbs to N166.79 trillion.
Documents from the World Bank show that the proposed financing comprises three separate $500m International Development Association (IDA) credits, rather than a single $1.5 billion loan.
The facilities are targeted at household welfare, human capital development and climate resilience. DATA from the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that the outstanding balance of the securitised Ways and Means debt fell to N22.106 trillion as of June 30, 2026, from N22.719 trillion at the end of March.
This represents a quarter-on-quarter decline of 2.70 per cent.
The reduction coincided with the expiration of the three-year moratorium on principal repayment granted when the debt was securitised in 2023.
The securitised Ways and Means balance remained at N22.719 trillion from its inclusion in the public debt stock in June 2023 through March 2026.
Although the DMO initially reported the amount as part of the broader FGN bond portfolio, later reports presented it separately as “FGN Securitised Ways & Means”.
By June 2026, the figure had dropped to N22.106 trillion, indicating that the debt had entered a phase of decline after remaining unchanged for about three years.
Despite the decline, the securitised debt remained a substantial part of the Federal Government’s domestic obligations. It accounted for 25.41 per cent of the total FGN domestic debt stock and 34.09 per cent of all FGN bonds at the end of June.
FGN bonds stood at N64.839 trillion, comprising N41.468 trillion in naira-denominated bonds, N22.106 trillion in securitised Ways and Means debt and N1.265 trillion in domestic dollar bonds.
Ways and Means Advances are temporary loans granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Federal Government to address shortfalls between government revenue and expenditure.
The latest DMO figures put Nigeria’s total public debt at $120.93 billion, comprising $54.52 billion in external debt and $66.41 billion in domestic debt.
