Nigeria’s ambassador-designate to Mexico and author, Reno Omokri, has stated that the country’s total public debt climbed to $113 billion shortly before President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.
Speaking amid ongoing debates over Nigeria’s debt profile, Omokri challenged a recent fact-check report that put the inherited debt at $108.29 billion under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He explained that the $108.29 billion figure represents Nigeria’s total public debt as of March 31, 2023, based on quarterly data from the Debt Management Office (DMO). According to him, this figure does not accurately reflect the debt level inherited by Tinubu, who assumed office nearly two months later.
Omokri argued that the March data excluded additional loans secured by the Buhari administration in the second quarter of 2023. He also noted that it did not account for the controversial “ways and means” debt reportedly uncovered after the transition.
Citing a report by Dubawa, a fact-checking initiative of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Omokri maintained that Nigeria’s total debt rose to N87 trillion, equivalent to $113 billion, by June 2023.
He quoted the report as stating that external debt stood at N33 trillion ($43 billion), with the federal government accounting for N29 trillion ($38 billion), while states and the Federal Capital Territory recorded N3 trillion ($4 billion).
Omokri called on media organisations to verify their data and correct what he described as a misleading narrative surrounding the country’s debt figures.