Nigeria spent ₦3.14 trillion servicing its domestic debt obligations in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 20.3 percent increase compared with the ₦2.61 trillion recorded during the same period in 2025.
According to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO), the latest figure also represents a 37.5 percent increase from the ₦2.28 trillion spent in the fourth quarter of 2025, highlighting the growing pressure of debt servicing on government finances.
Interest payments accounted for ₦2.97 trillion of the total, while principal repayments stood at ₦169.68 billion.
Interest Payments Dominate Debt Service
The Federal Government’s domestic debt service increased from ₦741.82 billion in January to ₦967.67 billion in February before reaching ₦1.43 trillion in March.
Interest payments followed a similar pattern, rising from ₦726.38 billion in January to ₦967.67 billion in February and ₦1.28 trillion in March.
Federal Government bonds accounted for the largest portion of interest payments at ₦1.96 trillion, including ₦1.90 trillion from FGN bonds and ₦61.97 billion from the FGN US Dollar Bond.
Nigerian Treasury Bills accounted for another ₦1.003 trillion, while FGN Savings Bonds attracted ₦4.24 billion in interest payments during the quarter.
This means that roughly ₦95 out of every ₦100 spent on domestic debt servicing went toward interest payments, while only about ₦5 went toward repaying the principal.
Debt Burden Continues to Rise
The composition of interest payments has also changed over time. In the first quarter of 2025, Treasury Bills attracted ₦960.72 billion in interest payments, while FGN bonds accounted for ₦1.40 trillion.
By the fourth quarter of 2025, interest payments on Treasury Bills stood at ₦742.34 billion, while FGN bonds accounted for ₦1.32 trillion.
In Q1 2026, however, interest payments on Treasury Bills increased to ₦1.003 trillion, while payments on FGN bonds rose to ₦1.96 trillion.
The DMO also reported that Nigeria’s total public debt increased marginally to ₦159.35 trillion as of March 31, 2026, from ₦159.28 trillion at the end of December 2025.
For context, total public debt stood at ₦87.38 trillion as of June 30, 2023, shortly after President Bola Tinubu assumed office.
The latest figures highlight the increasing cost of domestic borrowing and the significant share of government resources being committed to interest payments, leaving less fiscal space for infrastructure, social programmes and other development priorities.
