The Presidency has dismissed recent comments by former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, on the country’s rising debt profile.
In a post via his verified X handle on Tuesday, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, described Melaye’s statements as “entertainment, and not enlightenment.”
Recall Melaye, had in a recent interview mocked the Tinubu administration over its borrowing practices.
The former lawmaker questioned the rationale behind recent loan requests, asking why the government was seeking $1.7 billion from the World Bank and pointing to the Senate’s approval of about $21 billion in external borrowing so far.
He described the scale of borrowing as unprecedented and argued it contradicts the administration’s stated aim of eliminating waste.
However, citing data from the Debt Management Office, the Dare explained that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at ₦149.39 trillion as of March 31, 2025.