Reno Omokri: Nigeria’s debt climbed to $113bn before Tinubu’s inauguration

Reno Omokri says Nigeria’s total public debt rose to $113 billion before the inauguration of Bola Tinubu as president on May 29, 2023.

In a statement, Omokri disputed a fact-check published by Daily Trust on the debt profile inherited by Tinubu from former president Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the $108.29 billion figure cited in the report represented Nigeria’s total public debt as of March 31, 2023.

Omokri said the figure was based on data released quarterly by the Debt Management Office (DMO).

According to him, the March 2023 data cannot accurately represent the debt inherited by Tinubu because the president assumed office nearly two months later.

He said the figures did not include loans obtained by the Buhari administration in the second quarter of 2023.

Omokri added that the data also excluded the “ways and means” debt that was reportedly discovered after Buhari handed over power.

According to him, Nigeria’s debt had climbed to $113 billion by June 2023.
He cited a report by Dubawa, a fact-checking project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), to support his claim.

Quoting the report, Omokri said: “In the second quarter, which marks the beginning of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the total debt was ₦87 trillion ($113 billion).

The total external debt stock was ₦33 trillion ($43 billion). The federal government’s external debt was ₦29 trillion ($38 billion), while the external debt stock of states and FCT totalled ₦3 trillion ($4 billion).”

Omokri asked the newspaper to verify the figures and withdraw what he described as a misleading headline.

“I do note your anti-Tinubu stance; however, please verify this and take down this misleading and dishonest headline,” he said.