By Aaron Ossai
The House of Representatives has set up an Ad-hoc Committee to investigate debts owed to the Federal Government by state actors, private entities and Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
Former Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, PAC, Hon. Oluwole Oke representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency of Osun State was named as Chairman of the Committee.
The inauguration of the Committee followed the adoption of a motion moved at plenary by Hon. Salisu Yusuf and five other lawmakers.
The Committee is expected to examine outstanding liabilities owed to the Federal Government, identify debtors, assess recovery efforts by relevant agencies and recommend measures for recovering the funds.
Leading debate on the general principles of the motion, Hon. Yusuf expressed concern over Nigeria’s growing debt burden and declining revenue profile, warning that failure to recover monies owed to the government was worsening the country’s fiscal challenges.
“As of September 30, 2025, Nigeria’s total public debt surged to N153.29tn, driven by increased domestic borrowing and currency depreciation.
“The debt portfolio composed of over 53% domestic debt and roughly 47% external with debt servicing consuming a significant 47.85% of government revenue in the first nine months of 2025”, he said.
The lawmaker recalled that countries across the world, including Nigeria, resorted to borrowing and other fiscal interventions in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic to stabilise their economies.
“Most countries around the world, including Nigeria had recourse to borrow and deploy other monetary policy tools to deal with economic challenges.
“Some of these tools have been effectively and pragmatically deployed by the current administration and a notable effect is the stable and strong position of the naira over the last 15 months”, he added.
Hon. Yusuf, however, argued that while successive governments had focused heavily on debt servicing and fresh borrowing, insufficient attention had been paid to recovering funds owed to the federal government.
“The House is aware that the Federal Government of Nigeria is owed huge sums of money within and outside the country, including judgment debts.
“These sums are held by state and non-state actors, Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government”, he further stated.
Speaking further, he also referenced the establishment of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit in 2015, which was created to strengthen oversight of government finances and improve accountability in public spending.
“We are further aware of the establishment of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit in 2015 to set up systems and frameworks to oversee finance and spending of Federal Government revenue aimed at achieving improved efficiency, effectiveness and accountability,” he added.
