₦airaland Forum

Under Wike, the FCT’s domestic debt surged from N88.51 billion to N389.88 billion, catapulting Abuja from Nigeria’s ninth-lowest debtor to its second-highest, amid gaps in publicly available financial records.

The Federal Capital Territory’s domestic debt has risen more than fourfold since Nyesom Wike assumed office as minister of the FCT in August 2023, moving the territory from among Nigeria’s least indebted sub-national governments to the second-highest debtor, PREMIUM TIMES analysis of data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) has shown.

When Mr Wike assumed office on 21 August 2023, the FCT’s domestic debt stood at N88.51 billion as of 30 September 2023, according to DMO data. At the time, the FCT ranked 29th among the 36 states and the territory in domestic debt, meaning it was the ninth least indebted sub-national government in the country.

By March 2026, however, the debt had climbed to N389.88 billion, representing an increase of N301.37 billion, or 340.5 per cent, from the September 2023 ranking.

The latest figure places the FCT second among Nigeria’s 37 sub-national governments in domestic debt, according to the DMO data reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES.

The increase is particularly notable because the FCT’s domestic debt had declined substantially during the first year of Mr Wike’s tenure.

It rose from N88.51 billion in September 2023 to N91.52 billion in December 2023 and N94.01 billion in March 2024.

The debt subsequently fell to N84.64 billion in June 2024 and dropped further to N53.43 billion in September 2024 before rising to N63.56 billion by December that year.

It stood at N61.11 billion in March 2025 and N71.04 billion in June before rising to N78.93 billion in September 2025.

The sharp reversal came in the final quarter of 2025.

The FCT’s domestic debt jumped from N78.93 billion in September to N188.86 billion by December, an increase of N109.93 billion in three months.

By March 2026, it had more than doubled again, reaching N389.88 billion.

That means the FCT’s domestic debt increased by N200.99 billion between December 2025 and March 2026 alone.

However, the FCT is not the only subnational government with a rising domestic debt profile. PREMIUM TIMES reported that under Governor Monday Okpebholo, Edo State has risen from 12th position to the sixth most indebted state in Nigeria.

The DMO’s published sub-national debt records confirm that it regularly publishes domestic debt positions for the states and FCT, including quarterly figures through December 2025.

Revenue has also increased
The drastic rise in debt has occurred alongside substantial inflows to the FCT from the Federation Account.

Because the FCT administration has not made its budget documents and financial reports publicly available since 2023, PREMIUM TIMES relied on monthly allocations published through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to examine the territory’s federally distributed revenue.

The newspaper’s analysis of FAAC allocations from August 2023 to March 2026 shows that the FCT received N432.13 billion during the period.

The figure comprises N47.69 billion received between August and December 2023, N136.79 billion in 2024, N204.16 billion in 2025 and N43.49 billion in the first three months of 2026.

The analysis covers the same period ending with the March 2026 DMO debt position.

The FAAC figures, however, do not represent the FCT’s entire revenue. They exclude internally generated revenue and other receipts such as opening balances, grants, aids and loans.

The revenue picture has also strengthened considerably in recent months.

The FCT received N24.28 billion in April and N30.62 billion in May 2026, according to the figures reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, bringing its FAAC receipts for the two months to N54.90 billion.

The May allocation followed a national FAAC distribution of N2.3 trillion among the three tiers of government.

The April allocation was part of the N2.257 trillion distributed by FAAC from the month’s Federation Account revenue.

The April and May figures represent the highest monthly FAAC receipts recorded by the FCT in the period reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES.

Missing financial records
Despite the growth in both debt and federal allocations, PREMIUM TIMES could not find successive budget documents, budget performance reports and audited financial statements for the FCT on the official FCT administration website covering the period since Mr Wike assumed office.

The absence of these documents makes it difficult to independently establish the precise purposes for which the FCT incurred the additional debt, the sources and terms of the borrowings and how the borrowed funds were deployed.

It also limits public scrutiny of the relationship between the FCT’s revenue, expenditure and debt accumulation.

This is significant because the FCT is not a state but receives allocations from the Federation Account while its administration is headed by a minister appointed by the president.

President Bola Tinubu swore in Mr Wike and other members of his cabinet on 21 August 2023. The debt trajectory since then presents a steep contrast.

From N88.51 billion shortly after Mr Wike assumed office, the FCT’s domestic debt has risen to N389.88 billion.

In percentage terms, the increase is 340.5 per cent while in absolute terms, the FCT has added N301.37 billion to its domestic debt stock in roughly two and a half years.

And while the available FAAC data show that the territory received N432.13 billion between August 2023 and March 2026, the absence of comprehensive publicly accessible financial statements makes it difficult for residents and independent observers to determine how its total revenues and liabilities evolved together.

The figures raise questions about the scale, timing and purpose of the borrowing that propelled the FCT from one of Nigeria’s least indebted sub-national governments to the second-highest domestic debtor.

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/903235-under-wike-fct-moves-from-ninth-lowest-to-second-highest-indebted-in-nigeria.html

This should not be a surprise. He is serving under an administration that has accumulated the highest level of loans in history. He is simply joining the bandwagon.
You cannot separate the wheat from the chaff in this scenario.

When people hail this thief as a man that delivers, I just shake my head

Even a bandit will deliver more dividends of democracy if given half of the budget and allocation of Wike

The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

tishbite41:
When people hail this thief as a man that delivers, I just shake my head

Even a bandit will deliver more dividends of democracy if given half of the budget and allocation of Wike

No be lie. They steal from the nation and call it delivery

And yet they make noise about increased allocation

seunmsg:
The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

Which good work is he actually doing that other previous ministers didn't do to justify the high indebtedness he's plunged the fct into, despite record increases in faac and igr? Were there no roads before in the fct? In fact, most of the city projects Wike commissioned were about 80% completed by Bello. To the extent that Wike went ahead to recommission an already inner city rail commissioned and ridden by Buhari in 2020 should tell you something. How has he treated the civil service under him that he's failed to promote since 2023?

I really hope and pray you also remember the so called good works when he falls out with Tinubu.

seunmsg:
The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

Even though he is looting billions of abuja public funds?

À servant is always Gona behave like his master

Una don come again abi .

Bitter Nigerians at it . I guess Wike is the next topic to them

When he FIGHTs with TINUBU, remember the good works propaganda.

Sorry for your failure at OSUN.

seunmsg:
The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

So much confusion in this government of APC at all levels. From top to bottom.
A case of the more you look, the less you see.

But he is building roads and event centre nau.

He is Mr project.

Una eyes go peel, una go understand say Wike dey operate like devil.

Give you one, collect nine for your hand

Keep the good work Wike

Kudos to you 👋

How do people expect to see developments strides with a thief as their leader?

I thought they all said Tinubu is dashing them money to work..

Why all these senseless borrowing to do bogus project that are costed times 10 the actual amount.

1vandragon:
Under Wike, the FCT’s domestic debt surged from N88.51 billion to N389.88 billion, catapulting Abuja from Nigeria’s ninth-lowest debtor to its second-highest, amid gaps in publicly available financial records.


https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/903235-under-wike-fct-moves-from-ninth-lowest-to-second-highest-indebted-in-nigeria.html

If another administration enter 2027, Prison go too full

seunmsg:
The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

Are you still saddened by the poor outing of apc in tinubu's state?

Don't be so sad

Wike, that fantastically corrupt guy.

Them carry criminals put for office

But after being a governor for 8 years,, minister for years and local government chairman

Why can't an African man be satisfied??

They just keep stealing and stealing even what their generation can't eat..

Even if u give wike 3 billion now... He can't finish it till he leaves this earth

Wike is working to restore Abuja master plan ,even if billions is unaccounted for...is still part of the restoration...his former master GEJ told us on national TV that stealing is not corruption..my pain is that edo governor that is borrowing billions he can't even pronounce well...if given opportunity to call out the figures...APC is a cancer to our national life and needs to be cut out of our national body

The Minister is undeniably making a splash. A brilliant, efficient leader.

Wike and his grandmaster are on their dieing leave era, so it must expected to accumulate/embezzle much resources as they can.

seunmsg:
The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

Yes, you are happy from your hut in ogbomosho

Apc government is really showing Nigeria new things.... They will soon deny that Wike is pdp

He did the same thing in Rivers state.

seunmsg:
The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

Are you the chief speaker of the people of Abuja? Don't rub your enslaved zombism mentality on the good people of FCT. Sorry they have their opinion different from yours.

aworatak:
This should not be a surprise. He is serving under an administration that has accumulated the highest level of loans in history. He is simply joining the bandwagon.

You cannot separate the wheat from the chaff in this scenario.

Any idea why supposedly sensible people like NOI are praising this renewed hopelessness of balablu bulaba propaganda lies


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WzbBqAWPfI

Aug 29, 2023

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun made this known at the end of the inaugural Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.
Mr. Edun said that the benefit of the subsidy removal will be plough back into various sectors to improve business environment for local and foreign investment.
He added that with the increased revenue from subsidy removal, various palliatives have been made available to cushion its effect on a short, medium and long-term basis.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn29b0SkCWU?si=s_-vTlCqSlykI0BX

Ofunaofu:
Report: Current Govt Added More Debt in Two Years Than Nigeria Accumulated in 55 Years

• Decries Nigeria’s debt service-to-revenue ratio

•Urges FG to declare fiscal emergency

A new policy brief has warned that Nigeria’s worsening debt profile and weak revenue generation have pushed the country into a dangerous fiscal position, with the current administration accumulating more debt in two years than Nigeria recorded during its first 55 years after independence.

The report, released by the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics LTD/GTE, a Nigerian policy think tank, argued that the country’s debt crisis has evolved into a governance and revenue emergency, as debt servicing obligations now exceed the federal government’s retained earnings.
>
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According to the think tank, Nigeria’s public debt rose sharply from N87.38 trillion in June 2023 to N159.28 trillion by the end of 2025, with President Bola Tinubu’s administration accounting for about N65.9 trillion of the increase within its first two years in office.

The organisation in the brief titled: “Nigeria Is Borrowing to Breathe—and the Clock Is Ticking”, noted that Nigeria accumulated only about N12.06 trillion in debt from independence in 1960 up to 2015, meaning the current administration added more than five times that amount in just 24 months.

The report stated that while previous governments also contributed significantly to the country’s rising debt burden, the speed of accumulation under the current administration had intensified concerns over fiscal sustainability.

“President Bola Tinubu’s administration has added a further N65.9 trillion in just two years. To put that in perspective: it took Nigeria’s first 55 years of independence to accumulate N12 trillion in debt. The current administration has added more than five times that amount in 24 months,” it argued.

It recalled that Nigeria briefly became almost debt-free externally after the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo secured an $18 billion Paris Club debt relief package in 2005 and paid $12 billion to extinguish about $30 billion in external obligations.


https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/05/22/report-current-govt-added-more-debt-in-two-years-than-nigeria-accumulated-in-55-years/

seunmsg:
The good people of Abuja are happy with the FCT Minister. We can see the good work the FCT Minister is doing. Go away with your negativity.

ok he is the manager of bullion vans manufacturing company Abuja branch

AcadaWriter0:
The Minister is undeniably making a splash. A brilliant, efficient leader.

Are you being sarcastic

anonimi:
Any idea why supposedly sensible people like NOI are praising this renewed hopelessness of balablu bulaba propaganda lies


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WzbBqAWPfI

Aug 29, 2023

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun made this known at the end of the inaugural Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.
Mr. Edun said that the benefit of the subsidy removal will be plough back into various sectors to improve business environment for local and foreign investment.
He added that with the increased revenue from subsidy removal, various palliatives have been made available to cushion its effect on a short, medium and long-term basis.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn29b0SkCWU?si=s_-vTlCqSlykI0BX

I wish I had answers as to why NOI is not oblivious of the ineptitude of this administration.