Presidency slams Melaye’s ‘Theatrics’ over Nigeria’s ₦149.39 trillion debt

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Presidency has sharply criticized Senator Dino Melaye for what it calls “noise, not knowledge,” following the former senator’s recent television appearance where he mocked Nigeria’s borrowing practices.

In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, accused Melaye of prioritizing spectacle over substance, particularly for his jabs about Nigeria borrowing from fintech platforms like OPay and Moniepoint.

Dare, speaking on behalf of the Presidency, provided a detailed rebuttal to Melaye’s claims, citing data from the Debt Management Office (DMO).

He noted that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at ₦149.39 trillion as of March 31, 2025, and attributed the increase from the previous year primarily to naira depreciation rather than new borrowing.

“When the currency adjusts, the naira value of existing external debt rises, whether or not new loans are taken,” Dare explained, emphasizing that the debt surge is largely an arithmetic consequence of exchange rate fluctuations.

The Presidency highlighted that Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP ratio remains between 40% and 45%, significantly lower than South Africa’s 70% or Ghana’s over 90%.

Dare argued that Nigeria’s debt levels are sustainable, with the real challenge lying in revenue mobilization.

“Encouragingly, revenues are improving, strengthening our capacity to service obligations,” he stated, pointing to recent fiscal reforms under President Tinubu’s administration.

The Presidency defended borrowing as a “legitimate tool for financing growth and reforms,” stressing that sustainability, not sensationalism, should guide public discourse.

Dare dismissed Melaye’s remarks as “cheap jabs” and urged the former senator to “acquaint himself with basic economics” to provide substantive commentary rather than “entertainment.”

The statement, titled “Dino Malaye’s Debt Drama: Noise, Not Knowledge,” accused Melaye of trading facts for theatrics, particularly in his critique of a proposed $1.7 billion World Bank loan and the Senate’s approval of approximately $21 billion in external borrowing.

Melaye, a former senator, used an Arise Television interview on Monday, September 8, 2025, to criticize the Tinubu administration’s borrowing practices.

He described the scale of borrowing as “unprecedented” and questioned its alignment with the government’s pledge to eliminate waste, even raising concerns about reported government spending, such as the alleged purchase of a presidential yacht.

Melaye’s comments echoed concerns raised by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which warned that Nigeria’s public debt could surpass ₦200 trillion by the end of 2025.

The Presidency, through Dare, dismissed the ADC’s projection as exaggerated, emphasizing that borrowing is tied to strategic investments in infrastructure, health, education, and security, as outlined in the Medium-Term External Borrowing Plan approved by the Senate in July 2025.

Nigeria’s debt profile has been a contentious issue, exacerbated by the naira’s devaluation in 2023 and 2024, which inflated the naira value of external loans, accounting for roughly 43% of the total debt stock as of March 2025, according to the DMO.

The Presidency has pointed to reforms like fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification as necessary for long-term economic stability, with Dare noting that the recent GDP rebasing in July 2025 lowered the debt-to-GDP ratio to approximately 39%, below the 40% fiscal threshold.