By George Omagbemi Sylvester
Former presidential aide Reno Omokri has stirred fresh debate over Nigeria’s debt crisis after insisting that the country’s total public debt had already climbed to $113 billion before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office on 29 May 2023. His intervention directly disputes a competing public narrative that Tinubu inherited a significantly lower debt figure.
Omokri made the claim in a statement reported on Friday, March 27, 2026, arguing that the widely cited $108.29 billion figure only reflected Nigeria’s debt position as of 31 March 2023, not the actual burden on the day Tinubu was sworn in. According to him, additional borrowing in the second quarter of 2023 and unresolved “ways and means” obligations pushed the real figure higher before the handover.
Nigeria’s debt argument is no longer just about numbers; it is now a political weapon. Omokri’s position seeks to shift responsibility backward to the Muhammadu Buhari era and blunt criticism of Tinubu’s worsening economic record. In a country already battered by inflation, devaluation, and hardship, the debt truth has become part of the larger war over public credibility.
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