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We Must Look Inwards To Reduce Rising Debts, DMO Insists
Faced with rising debts, Africa must look inwards, the Director-General (D-G) of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha, has advised.
She spoke at the launch of the report of a Debt Sustainability study commissioned by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) under the Debt Management Roundtable (DMR), in Abuja, yesterday.
According to her, the stark realities confronting Sub-Saharan Africa were such that only a new focus on revenue generation from within; could save the region from a debt crisis.
She said, “The timing of the launch of the report could not have been more appropriate with the global debt levels already rising pre-COVID-19 and still growing since the COVID-19 pandemic started in the year 2020.
“Concerns around debt sustainability have expectedly heightened. According to the Word Bank’s World Economic Outlook, ‘Globally, sovereign debt grew from 49.1per cent of GDP in 2014 to 57.9percent in 2019. And in Sub-Saharan Africa, from 35.1per cent of GDP in 2014 to 55.4percent in 2019.’”
The respective figures for 2021 were 66.7percent and 60.3percent.
“The indications are that the trend will continue as the economic consequences of COVID-19 may linger for a longer period, coupled with the increased economic pressures in the form of rising inflation from higher food and energy prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine War.”
With the current situation, Oniha said that most of the adversely affected nations would continue to borrow but that members of ECOWAS should seek the most credible alternative to borrowing, which she identified as expansion of the revenue base.
According to her, “Concerns about debt sustainability and the need for restructuring have been stronger for Sub-Saharan Africa, due to high debt service costs when compared to revenues.
“It is, therefore, an absolute necessity for West African countries to place sharper focus on domestic resource mobilization. Nigeria is already on that path through the Strategic Revenue growth Initiative (SRGI) and the Finance Acts that have been enacted since 2019.”
The report said that member nations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) faced risks of debt crisis, unless urgent steps were taken by their various governments to address rising debts.
According to the report, “In ECOWAS, five major research issues emanated from the debt situation. To begin with, numerous ECOWAS countries benefitted from debt elimination during the debt relief tsunami of 2005-2008.
“However, public debt has increased to the point where it is approaching crisis proportions just over a decade later. Debt sustainability needs corrective actions such as debt restructuring and the discovery of viable debt alternatives.”
The report, which was presented by the Chairman of the OSIWA-NESG DMR, Dr. Taiwo Oyedele, indicated that the rising debt portfolio of the sub-region was directly linked to the sustained deficit fiscal positions of member nations.
“The overall fiscal environment in ECOWAS has remained in an uninterrupted deficit since 2009. The COVID-19 pandemic, which engendered a global disruption in the economy’s demand and supply side, has consequently led to an unprecedented increase in fiscal deficit to a tune of 6.8percent of the nominal GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
“The fiscal deficit of ECOWAS in 2020 expanded by 53percent to $46.22billion. Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit expanded by 17.6per cent , 122.4percent and 170percent in Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire in order of the size of their economy, respectively.
“This makes Nigeria, the country with the largest fiscal deficit in the region in 2020, while Ghana recorded the largest increase in the budget deficit in the year.”
While fielding questions on Nigeria’s debt management, Oyedele commended the Federal Government for the public debt data transparency policy adopted by the Debt Management Office.
“He said, one policy of the Federal Government that is worth commending is the public debt data transparency. This is commendable. The Federal Government has also been very intentional with the debt mix- both external borrowing and domestic borrowing.”
The chairman urged that the Federal Government could do better with its project-tied borrowings as exemplified with the Second Niger Bridge and the Sukuk, which would ensure that borrowed funds are transparently utilised to engender economic growth.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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