President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared that the Federal Government is no longer borrowing from domestic banks, citing a major revenue breakthrough driven by non-oil sectors.

The announcement was made during a meeting with members of the Buhari Organisation, led by former Nasarawa State Governor, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, at the Presidential Villa.

“The economy is stabilised, nobody is trading piece of paper for exchange rate anymore. We are going up. Today I’m standing before you, I can brag that Nigeria is not borrowing a dime from local banks,” Tinubu said.

He added, “The revenue, we have met our target of revenue for the whole year, we’ve met it in August. Non-oil. If non-oil revenue is doing well, then we have no fear of whatever Trump is doing on the other side.”

Agricultural Mechanization Initiative

Tinubu also announced a nationwide agricultural mechanization initiative aimed at achieving food sovereignty and reducing poverty.

“I’ve just signed up on a huge mechanization program that in every region, we have a mechanized center for agric-mechanization. That is our path to food sovereignty, food security,” he said. “You remove hunger from poverty, you have defeated poverty.”

Nigeria’s Debt Profile Remains Concerning

Despite the President’s optimism, Nigeria’s debt profile continues to raise concerns. According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), total public debt stood at N149.39 trillion as of March 31, 2025, representing a 22.8% increase from N121.67 trillion in the same period of 2024. The figure also rose by N4.72 trillion from the previous quarter.

A mid-year economic outlook by CSL Stockbrokers Limited, a subsidiary of FCMB Group Plc, projects that Nigeria’s public debt could hit N160.6 trillion by year-end. The report warns that the Federal Government may need to borrow an additional N9.3 trillion to cover a widening fiscal deficit, potentially pushing debt to 50.2% of the pre-rebased GDP.

“We expect the government to ramp up its borrowing efforts in the second half of the year to bridge the widening fiscal gap,” the report stated. “We believe the government could come to the market to raise around N9.3 trillion or more in the second half of the year, which could see the total public debt rise to at least N160.6 trillion (c.50.2% of pre-rebased GDP) by the end of the year.”

While Tinubu’s administration highlights fiscal discipline and revenue growth, analysts remain cautious amid weak oil earnings and delayed tax reforms. CSL’s report suggests the fiscal deficit could expand to 5.8% of GDP, surpassing the 2025 budget’s projection of 3.9%.

Desperation To Unseat Jonathan fuelled Insecurity In Nigeria – Datti Baba-Ahmed

The 2023 Labour Party Vice-Presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed, has attributed the insecurity plaguing Nigeria today to the intense political efforts to remove former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

Baba-Ahmed made the remarks on Tuesday during an appearance on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.