Tinubu Requests Fresh ₦1.15 Trillion Domestic Loan to Plug 2025 Budget Deficit

The new borrowing request raises Nigeria’s total proposed loans in Q4 2025 to ₦3.6 trillion, amid mounting public debt and growing criticism from opposition leaders.

President Bola Tinubu has formally requested the National Assembly’s approval for an additional ₦1.15 trillion domestic loan to finance Nigeria’s 2025 budget deficit, currently estimated at ₦9.27 trillion.

In a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on Monday, Tinubu stated that the funds would be raised “through the issuance of securities in the domestic market.” He explained that the loan is necessary to fund “critical infrastructure and service delivery obligations” already captured in the 2025 Appropriation Act.

The request comes just weeks after lawmakers approved a separate $2.35 billion external borrowing plan and a ₦500 billion sovereign sukuk issuance. With this new proposal, total borrowing requests by the Tinubu administration in the last quarter of 2025 have reached roughly ₦3.6 trillion, according to official estimates.

Nigeria’s public debt stock currently exceeds $108 billion, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO). The sharp rise in borrowing has sparked concern from international bodies like the World Bank and IMF, as well as domestic critics.

Reacting to the fresh request, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar accused the government of “mortgaging the future of unborn Nigerians” and urged the National Assembly to reject the proposal.

However, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, defended the decision, saying the borrowing “remains within the fiscal deficit ceiling of 3.9 percent of GDP” and is consistent with the budget law already approved by parliament. “This is not fresh spending; it is financing for already approved expenditures,” he clarified after Monday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.

Senate Leader Michael Opeyemi Bamidele noted that the letter had been referred to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for accelerated review, with a report expected before the legislative recess on December 18.

If approved, the ₦1.15 trillion facility will push Nigeria’s domestic debt stock beyond ₦65 trillion, according to projections by Lagos-based consultancy Financial Derivatives Company.

The ₦42.7 trillion 2025 budget, signed into law in May, anticipates revenue of ₦33.4 trillion, leaving a funding gap of nearly ₦9.3 trillion — a shortfall the administration has opted to close through borrowing rather than new taxes or subsidy savings.

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