HURIWA Slams Tinubu Over Rising Debt Despite Surplus Revenue Claim
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has lambasted President Bola Tinubu for pushing Nigeria’s debt profile close to N187 trillion despite boasting that his government had exceeded the 2025 revenue target.
HURIWA National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement on Monday, accused the Federal Government of deception after it announced fresh borrowing plans just days after the President declared that Nigeria had met its revenue projections ahead of schedule.
On September 2, Tinubu told a delegation of The Buhari Organisation at the Presidential Villa that Nigeria’s revenue mobilisation drive had already exceeded expectations.
The President said, “Today I can stand here before you to brag. Nigeria is not borrowing. We have met our revenue target for the year, and we met it in August.”
According to him, the achievement was largely driven by improved non-oil revenue, which now accounts for 75 per cent of total collections, alongside a stabilising exchange rate that saw the naira appreciate from over N1,900/$ to about N1,450/$.
However, HURIWA expressed shock that by September 4, the government had unveiled new plans to return to the debt market. Presidency figures showed that revenue collections from January to August 2025 stood at N20.59 trillion, a 40.5 per cent increase from the N14.6 trillion recorded in the same period of 2024.
Onwubiko questioned the government’s sincerity. He said, “How can you say in the morning that you have overshot the revenue target for the year, but in the evening announce that you will be borrowing excessively from external creditors? This is a fallacy of the undistributed middle. The citizens want our government to be very transparent and accountable and to stop playing on the collective psyche of the citizenry.
“The contradictions inherent in the manner the federal government handles foreign borrowing have made it impossible for citizens to even know when the government is telling the truth or not.”
He warned that Nigeria’s rising debt profile was not only unsustainable but also crippling the economy. A report by Cardinalstone, an investment and research firm, projected that the country’s debt stock will hit N187.79 trillion by the end of 2025, compared to N153.04 trillion by year-end 2024 and N134.30 trillion as of June 2024.
“We estimate government debt to reach N187.79 trillion in 2025. The sharp rise in government debt has heightened concerns about its sustainability,” Cardinalstone analysts said in their report titled “Pressure to Plateau,” he said.
Onwubiko also drew attention to the protest last week by the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja. The contractors demanded payment of nearly N4 trillion for projects executed in 2024 but left unpaid due to low capital releases.
He concluded, “This contradiction in government policy direction has demonstrated a yawning gap in good governance. It is impracticable for the administration to justify any claim of transparency or accountability while dragging the nation into avoidable indebtedness.”
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
