Controversy Rages Over Nigeria’s N30 trn Debt

By Bayo Bernard

The raging controversy over Nigeria’s total has temporarily been put to rest.

At least for now.

The Debt Management Office, DMO on Friday, said the nation’s total debt stood at N26.2 trillion as at September, 2019.

But unofficial sources told the magazine that NigeriasN totat debt; foreign and local hovers around N30 trillion.

The director general of the DMO, Patience Oniha, while briefing the media in yesterday in Abuja, dispelled the report that the debt has hit N30 trillion.

She disclosed that the debt increased by two per cent last year.

The  latest increase in the debt portfolio, she stated , was a marginal increase by about 2 per cent from about N25.7 trillion recorded in the last quarter of last year between July and September.

Oniha said the debt stock, comprised those of the Federal and 36 State Governments as well as the Federal Capital Territory, includeing promissory notes valued at about N821.7 billion.

The promissory notes were issued to settle the Federal Government’s arrears to petroleum products marketers and State Governments under the Promissory Notes Programme approved by the Executive Council of the Federation and the National Assembly, she said, adding that the notes to the marketers were in respect of arrears of verified payments approved by the government in respect of the fuel subsidy claims filed for petroleum products import and supplies.