Nigeria’s rising debt burden tightened pressure on government finances throughout the first nine months of 2025.
The Federal Government spent ₦12.52 trillion servicing debt between January and September 2025.
Consequently, debt repayments consumed over 67% of total retained government revenue during the reviewed reporting period.
The government therefore spent more than ₦67 from every ₦100 earned repaying existing debt obligations.
Meanwhile, debt servicing reached ₦3.41 trillion during Q3 and consumed roughly 44% of quarterly government revenue.
The government also spent ₦6.32 trillion servicing domestic debt while repaying ₦4.93 trillion external obligations.
Revenue Pressure Mounts
However, weak oil earnings continued hurting government revenue performance throughout most of 2025.
The Federal Government generated ₦18.63 trillion revenue, far below the ₦30.67 trillion budget target.
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As a result, Nigeria recorded a ₦12.04 trillion revenue shortfall during the first nine months.
Oil revenue contributed ₦2.45 trillion during Q3 while missing official projections by 53.26% overall.
The Budget Office blamed crude theft, vandalism and disruptions for Nigeria’s weaker oil revenue performance.
Non-Oil Revenue Grows
Nevertheless, non-oil revenue strengthened government finances during the reviewed third-quarter reporting period.
Company Income Tax collections reached ₦3.06 trillion while VAT collections climbed to ₦2.28 trillion.
Furthermore, Nigeria’s total public debt stock climbed to ₦153.29 trillion as of September 2025.