Nigerians Becoming Poorer Despite Tinubu’s Borrowing, Peter Obi Warns Debt Could Exceed ₦200 Trillion

Peter Obi has warned that Nigerians are “becoming poorer” under President Bola Tinubu’s government, accusing the administration of piling up unsustainable debts through Borrowing without improving lives.

Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has warned that Nigeria’s rising debt under President Bola Tinubu is worsening poverty and mortgaging the future of the nation’s children.

In a statement on Tuesday, July 29, Obi criticised the federal government’s “borrowing pattern,” describing it as unsustainable and without “positive governance or human development benefits.”

He noted that with the Senate’s recent approval of $21 billion in foreign loans, along with other borrowings, Nigeria’s public debt could hit ₦200 trillion by the end of 2025.

“With an already existing public debt of about ₦149.39 trillion as at Q1 2025, adding the approved loans of about ₦37.2 trillion brings our current total debt to approximately ₦187 trillion,” Obi said, warning that the debt-to-GDP ratio is the highest in Nigeria’s history.

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He lamented that despite the “humongous borrowing,” critical sectors like education, healthcare, electricity, and infrastructure remain in decline, while 133 million Nigerians are classified as multi-dimensionally poor and malnutrition is worsening in the North.

Obi maintained that borrowing is not inherently bad, but the current trend – “without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact” – is driving the country into deeper economic distress.