Ms. Patience Oniha, has said federal lawmakers share a blame in the worrying situation.
By Emma Ogbuehi
As Nigeria’s debt stock continues to grow astronomically, the Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha, has said federal lawmakers share a blame in the worrying situation.
Nigeria’s total debt stock as at December 2021 stood at N39.556 trillion.
Ms. Oniha made the disclosure at a media interaction on Nigeria’s debt levels at the end of 2021.
Nigerians have blamed the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for the ballooning debt stock.
But Oniha said other arms of government are also responsible for the country’s growing debt.
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According to her: “It is not only the President and the Minister of Finance that endorse borrowing. The National Assembly passes the budget which contains how much will be borrowed after budget defence and public hearings”.
Speaking on the country’s ballooning debt profile, Oniha stated: “Borrowing came from the budget. The figures didn’t just happen. They came from many years of consecutive borrowing authorized by existing laws”.
She also disclosed that Nigeria’s debt to GDP is now 22.47 percent which is within the 40 percent threshold allowed by the World Bank.