ADC Blasts Tinubu Administration Over $21 Billion Foreign Loans Warns Nigeria’s Debt May Surpass ₦200 Trillion

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has condemned the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu following the National Assembly’s approval of $21 billion in foreign loans for the 2025–2026 fiscal year.

In a statement by ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi the party described the fresh borrowing as fiscal vandalism and warned that Nigeria’s public debt could exceed ₦200 trillion before the end of 2025.

The ADC accused the Tinubu administration of mortgaging Nigeria’s future without meaningful development or economic revival to justify the escalating debt.

According to the party while former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government borrowed an average of ₦4.7 trillion annually Tinubu’s administration has raised borrowing tenfold to an average of ₦49.8 trillion per year.

The statement charged that in just two years, Tinubu’s government borrowed more than ten times what Buhari did in the same timeframe, intensifying concerns about the country’s debt sustainability and fiscal management.

The opposition party also criticized the National Assembly for approving the loans, accusing lawmakers of acting as a rubber stamp and neglecting their responsibility to safeguard Nigerians from the consequences of unsustainable debt accumulation.

The ADC urged for a comprehensive audit of all loans secured by the Federal Government over the past decade, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability given the alarming debt trajectory and the apparent lack of corresponding improvements in infrastructure, education, healthcare or overall economic conditions.

This criticism comes amid official reports that the National Assembly approved a comprehensive borrowing package including $21.19 billion in direct foreign loans, alongside grants and domestic borrowing instruments, as part of the funding plan embedded in the 2025 Appropriation Act.

The ADC’s warning underscores growing public debate in Nigeria about the government’s borrowing strategy and the potential long-term fiscal risks faced by the country without tangible development outcomes to justify such high levels of external debt.