President Bola Tinubu is urging the National Assembly to greenlight an additional external borrowing package of $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion aimed at development and infrastructure initiatives across Nigeria. Opposition figures have quickly raised concerns regarding accountability and increasing national debt burdens.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu transmitted a formal request to the National Assembly seeking legislative approval to process external loans totaling $20,517,755,901 and €1,045,083,643 under the 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan. Senate President Godswill Akpabio read the president’s letter during plenary.
This set off an immediate debate among lawmakers and political parties over the administration’s borrowing trajectory.
The executive communication argues that critical sectors including power, transportation, agriculture, healthcare, education, water supply, and security require substantial financial resources to bridge national deficits.
According to the administration, the proposed financing will support initiatives designed to generate employment, foster entrepreneurship, reduce poverty, and enhance food security.
Senate Committees Get One Week to Review Borrowing Request
Senate President Godswill Akpabio referred the borrowing request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, chaired by Haruna Manu, following the reading of the presidential letter.
He issued instructions to coordinate with the Committees on Appropriations and Finance. Lawmakers gave the committees a strict one-week deadline to examine the financing proposal and report back to the chamber.
The 10th Senate has previously evaluated several substantial external and domestic financing proposals under the Tinubu administration.
Past approvals include a $7.8 billion and €100 million external borrowing plan, a $2.2 billion external loan to finance budget deficits, a $1.5 billion World Bank loan, and a $6 billion external borrowing plan approved in March.
More recent approvals featured a $516.3 million loan from Deutsche Bank AG to construct the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway.
President Tinubu likewise asked lawmakers to authorize the creation and scaling of the federal administration’s Promissory Note Programme, presented in a separate legislative communication, to clear N269.44 billion in validated outstanding obligations.
Senator Victor Umeh Questions Previous Budgetary Implementation
The borrowing proposal has met with skepticism from lawmakers who question the tangible results of prior approvals.
Mr Umeh, who represents Anambra Central Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate, criticized the administration’s fiscal management during an appearance on television.
Three budgets are running concurrently and the government is not meeting its obligations to contractors on capital projects and so on and so forth. So if you borrow to finance a budget and you are not able to finance that budget, where has the money gone to? That is the question in the lips of everybody.
Mr Umeh, who represents Anambra Central Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate
Mr Umeh warned that Nigeria is over-borrowing while citizens experience mounting economic hardship.
Atiku Abubakar And ADC Demand Full Project Disclosure
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar urged the National Assembly to suspend consideration of the loan request until the executive branch provides comprehensive project-by-project documentation.
He cautioned that advancing external loans without clear itemized costs, locations, and contractor details risks exposing public funds to political manipulation.
The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation. No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future.
Atiku Abubakar, African Democratic Congress presidential candidate
Economists from institutions such as Lagos State University have also pointed out that the lack of project-level information makes it difficult to ascertain which proposed investments require public expenditure and which might otherwise attract private capital.
The African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council issued a separate warning stating that the country must not mortgage its future through opaque and unsustainable borrowing arrangements whose purposes, terms, and benefits remain unclear to the public.
Atiku also cautioned domestic and international lenders that any loan granted to the winding-down administration must meet all constitutional, statutory, and due-process requirements, vowing to scrutinize every such borrowing upon assuming office.
Only N374.6 billion was saved for maturing debt liquidation in five years.