Nigeria's FCT Debt Surges Amid Infrastructure Concerns

Between 30 September 2025 and 31 March 2026, the domestic debt of the Federal Capital Territory rose from ₦78.93 billion to ₦389.88 billion, an increase of about ₦311 billion in six months, or roughly ₦1.7 billion a day, according to the Debt Management Office. The FCT Administration attributed this increase to more infrastructure work, but there is no documentation detailing who lent the money, the terms, approvals, or specific projects.

This lack of transparency is not unique to the FCT; in Nigeria, loans are often publicly announced but poorly documented post-approval. The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 mandates that any government borrowing must specify its purpose and provide a cost-benefit analysis.

The Center for Fiscal Transparency and Public Integrity is developing the Public Debt Integrity database to track Nigerian public borrowing and its utilization. Of 448 foreign loans worth $98.75 billion, only 31 percent have independent records of completion, and the situation is worse for domestic loans, with only 26 out of 601 projects having completion records.