President Bola Tinubu has asked the Nigerian Senate to approve external borrowing of 7.7 billion dollars, equivalent to about 10.79 trillion naira, to finance projects and programmes in the 2026 Appropriation Act and to partly cover the federal budget deficit. The request was set out in a letter dated October 26, 2026, which Senate President Godswill Akpabio read during plenary on Wednesday, November 4.
Akpabio told senators that the new letter effectively supersedes an earlier and much larger proposal, presented the previous week under the 2026 to 2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan, which sought approval to process external loans of 20.52 billion dollars and 1.045 billion euros. The new request is narrower: it covers the external portion of the 29.2 trillion naira in new borrowing provided for in the 2026 Appropriation Act, against a deficit estimated at about 31.4 trillion naira. Of that borrowing, 18.4 trillion naira is to come from domestic sources and 10.79 trillion naira from external sources.
Tinubu anchored the request on sections 21(1) and 27(1) of the Debt Management Office Act of 2003, which provide for legislative approval of external borrowing. The letter said the money could be raised through one or a combination of routes pursued at the same time: concessional and commercial loans from multilateral and bilateral lenders, International Monetary Fund facilities, bridge financing, direct borrowing from international financial institutions, and Eurobond issuance, with final terms to depend on market conditions when the borrowing is priced.
After the letter was read, Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for consideration and a report back to the chamber. No vote has been taken. The request arrives against a rising debt stock: figures cited in reporting on the borrowing debate put Nigeria’s total public debt at 166.79 trillion naira as of June 30, 2026, up from 159.35 trillion naira at the end of March 2026. Status: proposed. The committee report and a Senate vote are the steps that would turn the request into an authorisation.