The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has queried claims by President Bola Tinubu that his administration increased Nigeria’s revenue by over 100 per cent in three years, wondering why such a feat neither reduced the country’s debt nor translated into improved living conditions for citizens.
He raised the question on Monday in a post shared on his official X page, titled, “Exponential increase in revenue with excessive borrowing: Yet more hardship for Nigerians!”
According to the former Anambra State governor, Tinubu, while listing his administration’s achievements over the last three years, claimed it increased Nigeria’s revenue from ₦16.8 trillion in 2022 to ₦35 trillion in 2025.
Reacting, Obi argued that despite the reported increase in revenue, the country’s debt profile has continued to rise.
“Shockingly, while Nigerians expected a reduction in borrowing with the exponential increase in revenue, the opposite is the case,” he noted.
He added that Nigeria’s total public debt has risen to about ₦200 trillion, representing an increase of over ₦100 trillion within the last three years.
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Obi argued that the country earned more than its projected budget revenues during the period due to global and regional economic developments that affected commodity prices and government earnings.
He, however, noted that, “Alarmingly, even with the astronomical increase in both revenue and debt, almost all key socio-economic and governance indicators are worse than in 2023.”
He further lamented that “multidimensional poverty has increased from 87 million people in 2023 to over 140 million people in 2025,” adding that this has rapidly increased unemployment and caused a “decline in GDP per capita.”
He continued, saying, “The question Nigerians and even the international community are asking is, ‘Where did all the money go?’”
Obi called for greater transparency and accountability in the management of public resources and a cessation of the “imprudent, unaccountable, and opaque management of our common patrimony.”