The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has criticised President Bola Tinubu for increasing Nigeria’s debt profile to nearly N187 trillion, despite claiming that his government had already surpassed the 2025 revenue target.
Speaking on Monday, HURIWA National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, accused the Federal Government of deception and playing mind games with Nigerians after announcing fresh borrowing plans just days after the President boasted that the country had met its revenue projections ahead of schedule.
On September 2, 2025, Tinubu told a delegation of The Buhari Organisation at the Presidential Villa that Nigeria’s revenue mobilisation drive had already exceeded expectations.
The President said, “Today I can stand here before you to brag. Nigeria is not borrowing. We have met our revenue target for the year, and we met it in August.”
According to him, the achievement was largely driven by improved non-oil revenue, which now accounts for 75 per cent of total collections, alongside a stabilising exchange rate that saw the naira appreciate from over N1,900/$ to about N1,450/$.
But HURIWA expressed shock that barely two days later, on September 4, the Federal Government announced its decision to return to the debt market, despite reporting a record revenue increase.
Figures released by the Presidency showed that total collections from January to August 2025 hit N20.59 trillion, representing a 40.5 per cent surge from the N14.6 trillion collected in the same period in 2024.
Onwubiko, therefore, questioned the government’s sincerity.
“How can you say in the morning that you have overshot the revenue target for the year, but in the evening announce that you will be borrowing excessively from external creditors? This is a fallacy of the undistributed middle. The citizens want our government to be very transparent and accountable and to stop playing on the collective psyche of the citizenry,” he lamented.
He stated that the contradiction in the government’s fiscal stance has eroded confidence in its claims of prudent management, insisting that the borrowing spree contradicts Tinubu’s earlier assurances.
“The contradictions inherent in the manner the federal government handles foreign borrowing have made it impossible for citizens to even know when the government is telling the truth or not,” Onwubiko stressed.
He warned that Nigeria’s rising debt profile was not only unsustainable but also crippling the economy. It cited a recent report by Cardinalstone, an investment and research firm, which projected that the country’s debt stock will hit N187.79 trillion by the end of 2025, compared to N153.04 trillion by year-end 2024 and N134.30 trillion as of June 2024.
For context, Nigeria’s total debt stood at N49.85 trillion before the 2023 general elections.
The report attributed the spike to the issuance of dollar-denominated domestic bonds worth $900 billion, regular borrowing through treasury bills and bonds, and Nigeria’s return to the Eurobond market to raise $2.2 billion.
“We estimate government debt to reach N187.79 trillion in 2025. The sharp rise in government debt has heightened concerns about its sustainability,” Cardinalstone analysts said in their report titled “Pressure to Plateau,” he said.
Onwubiko also drew attention to the ripple effects of heavy borrowing on critical sectors, pointing to the protest last week by the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja.
The contractors demanded payment of nearly N4 trillion for projects executed in 2024 but left unpaid due to low capital releases.
“This contradiction in government policy direction has demonstrated a yawning gap in good governance. It is impracticable for the administration to justify any claim of transparency or accountability while dragging the nation into avoidable indebtedness,” Onwubiko added.
He concluded by urging Tinubu to halt what he described as the “reckless accumulation of debt” and to align fiscal policies with the principles of accountability, honesty, and public trust.
