Nigerians Owe FG N5.2tn; Says Finance Minister

The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has disclosed that firms and individuals Nigerians owe the Federal Government about N5.2 trillion as debt. 

Zainab Ahmed raised the alarm during a two-day sensitization workshop on Project Lighthouse organised for ICT and account staff in federal ministries.

Investors King understands that in the past seven years, the Federal Government has issued several loans and credit facilities to both companies and individuals. Some of these facilities include Covid-19, AGMES and Anchor Borrowers Loans which were majorly extended to farmers.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had also called out some of the defaulters, threatening to start debiting their accounts if they failed to pay what they owe. 

According to the Minister who was represented by the Director of Special Projects in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Victor Omata, the defaulting companies and individuals cut across 19 ministries, departments, and agencies and have refused to honour their obligations. 

The minister however noted that some issues like the lack of visibility of the transactions, poor information sharing, and enforcement had hampered the smooth investigations of the debts and had also created loopholes for revenue loss for the federal government. 

“The ministry, through the consolidation efforts of the Debt Analytics and Reporting Application, has been able to aggregate monumental debts of approximately N5.2 trillion. These debts came to the spotlight from data aggregated from over 5,000+ debtors across 10 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). The debt aggregation effort is still ongoing”.

“These debts are in the form of debt liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS); refunds to the government by companies who failed to deliver on projects for which payment had been effected, unpaid credit facilities granted to both corporate entities and individuals by the Bank of Industry (BOI) and Bank of Agriculture (BOA); judgment debt in favor of Government, debts owed Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) by Insurance Companies among others,” the Minister said through her representative.