Reported by: Ime Richard Aondofa | Edited by: Henry Owen
Former Senator Dino Melaye has sounded the alarm over Nigeria’s rapidly increasing public debt, describing the situation as “fiscal vandalism masquerading as reform.”
According to Melaye, the Debt Management Office (DMO) recently reported that Nigeria’s total public debt reached ₦152.4 trillion as of June 30, 2025, representing a ₦3.01 trillion increase in just three months, a 2.01% rise from the previous quarter.
Melaye noted that when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office over two years ago, the national debt stood at ₦87.38 trillion, meaning the debt has surged by over ₦65 trillion midway through his tenure. He criticized the administration for borrowing excessively to cover fiscal gaps while failing to improve critical sectors such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, and power generation.
“This is not fiscal management, it is economic cruelty,” Melaye said, highlighting that debt servicing now consumes over 90% of government revenue, leaving little room for developmental projects.
Melaye further warned that reliance on international lenders such as the World Bank, IMF, African Development Bank, and China’s Exim Bank threatens Nigeria’s creditworthiness and sovereignty, adding that every new loan agreement effectively mortgages the future of Nigerian children.
He emphasized that borrowing should be productive, building assets and stimulating economic growth, rather than funding consumption. According to Melaye, the continued pattern of unproductive borrowing “writes a promissory note of poverty for citizens” and represents a moral failure of governance.
“Every Nigerian pays for these loans through rising fuel costs, food prices, and collapsing public services,” he said, stressing that if the trend persists, future generations will inherit not a nation, but a balance sheet laden with debt.
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