Wale Edun aligns with Economy Post: Nigeria must cut debt, build strong domestic revenue

MINISTER of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has echoed the long-standing position of Economy Post that Nigeria must urgently reduce its dependence on borrowing and strengthen its domestic revenue base.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) leadership retreat in Abuja, Mr Edun said Nigeria’s current fiscal path is no longer sustainable if it continues to rely on debt and foreign inflows to fund development.

“And of course, we need to reduce our dependence on debt. Revenue mobilisation within this context is a developmental imperative,” he said.

The minister warned that shrinking global capital flows mean countries like Nigeria can no longer depend on foreign funding to support their economies. According to him, the global financial system is becoming more fragmented, with nations increasingly turning inward and pulling back from multilateral support.

He cited 2024 data showing that developing countries paid about $163 billion in debt servicing, while receiving just $42 billion in overseas development assistance and $97 billion in foreign direct investment.

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“When you add what came in and compare it to what went out, you can see clearly that we are giving more to the world than we are getting back,” Edun said.

He stressed that this imbalance makes it clear Nigeria’s future fiscal stability must rest on what it can generate internally, not on external loans or aid.

“The primary anchor of our fiscal sustainability is our own fiscal effort, our ability to generate revenue, create savings and invest those savings meaningfully,” he said.

Mr Edun also noted that high global interest rates, rising debt service costs and repeated external shocks, from COVID-19 to geopolitical conflicts, have narrowed financing options for developing economies.

According to him, this shift has turned domestic revenue mobilisation from a policy goal into a national development necessity.

NRS ‘Engine Room’ of Tinubu’s Reform Agenda

Mr Edun described the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS) as a central pillar of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reform programme, saying the agency sits at the core of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s fiscal position and cut debt dependence.

“You sit at the very centre of what we are trying to do in terms of fiscal strength,” he told NRS leadership at the retreat.

He said reforms such as fuel subsidy removal, public financial management changes and economic diversification would fail without stronger and more predictable revenues.

“No fiscal reform can deliver results if compliance is weak or uneven. Yet compliance cannot be achieved through enforcement alone. It is carrot and stick,” he said.

Mr Edun added that domestic revenue growth is even more critical as Nigeria faces high global interest rates and rising costs of commercial borrowing, including eurobonds.

He said sustainable revenue would allow government to invest in infrastructure, education and healthcare, strengthen social safety nets and reduce fiscal vulnerability.

The minister also linked revenue performance directly to macroeconomic conditions, noting that growth expands the tax base, exchange rate movements affect customs collections, and inflation shapes compliance behaviour.

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“The connection between macroeconomic conditions and revenue performance is direct and unavoidable,” he said.

He urged the NRS to embrace digitisation, automation and data-driven decision-making to keep pace with the digital economy and changing business models.

Mr Edun concluded by saying Nigerians are watching closely and expect revenue reforms to translate into tangible improvements in their daily lives.

Tinubu’s growing loans

Economy Post had reported that President Tinubu government’s loans constituted 43 percent of Nigeria’s total public debt, which stood at N152.398 trillion as of June 2025, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) data. The DMO data is not yet updated. By the time the agency releases its December 2025 report, Nigeria’s debt would have skyrocketed.

President Tinubu’s government held a $2.35 billion Eurobond sale in 2025 to raise funds to meet several needs. It was oversubscribed and attracted a record $13 billion orders mostly from international investors who wanted to participate in the market. However, a Eurobond is a debt instrument that pays principal and interest in a currency different from the currency of the country where it originated, according to Investopedia. Hence, the sale raised the nation’s external debt stock.

As of the time former President Muhammadu Buhari left office on May 29, 2023, the nation’s total public debt stood at N87.379 trillion, according to the DMO. However, with President Tinubu coming to power that same day, Nigeria’s debt profile rose thereafter, hitting N152.398 trillion as of June 2025, the data reveal.

This means that President Tinubu’s administration racked up N65.019 trillion between June 2023 and June 2025, marking 43 percent of the current public debt stock.

Nigeria had a revenue deficit of N30 trillion in 2025, according to Mr Edun, meaning the nation is not yet generating enough revenue to fill the budget deficits.

“The current trajectory indicates that federal revenues for the full year will likely end at around ₦10.7 trillion, compared with the ₦40.8 trillion that was projected,” Mr Edun told lawmakers in December, Economy Post had reported.

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He attributed the shortfall largely to weak oil and gas revenues, particularly lower-than-expected collections from Petroleum Profit Tax and Company Income Tax paid by oil and gas companies.

The minister also cited underperformance across several non-oil revenue subheads, compounding the pressure on government finances.