President Bola Tinubu has withdrawn his earlier external borrowing request and asked the National Assembly to approve a fresh loan of about $7.7 billion to help finance the 2026 budget deficit.
The new request was contained in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary on Wednesday. It replaces an earlier request for $20.51 billion and €1.04 billion under the 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan, which Akpabio had read to senators the previous Tuesday.
In the new letter, the President sought approval for $7,707,404,882.49, about ₦10.79 trillion, to fund projects in infrastructure, defence, agriculture, healthcare, power and education. He said the projects would stabilise and strengthen the administration’s macroeconomic reforms and gains.
Tinubu said Eurobonds would be a major source of the funds but that other options would also be explored. “All the options will be pursued simultaneously,” he wrote, adding that cost, benefit and the time needed to access the money would be weighed.
Because the borrowing is market-related, he said, the final terms, interest rates and repayment periods will only be known at pricing. He cited Sections 21(1) and 27(1) of the Debt Management Office (Establishment, etc.) Act, 2003, and the borrowing plan approved in the 2026 budget.
The 2026 Appropriation Act provides for ₦29.2 trillion in new borrowing, made up of ₦18.4 trillion domestic and ₦10.79 trillion external. The $7.7 billion facility is meant to cover part of that external component.
The new request follows other recent borrowing approvals. In March, the National Assembly approved a $6 billion external borrowing plan, and about five months ago it cleared a $516.3 million Deutsche Bank loan for the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway.
Analysts have repeatedly raised concerns about Nigeria’s rising debt and debt-servicing costs, while the government argues that borrowing is needed to close the infrastructure gap.
Akpabio has referred the request to the Senate Committees on Local and Foreign Debts and Appropriations and directed them to report back as soon as practicable.
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