Connect with us

Business

Debt Servicing Gulps N13.17tn Under Buhari, Education Suffers

Published

on

The Federal Government spent nothing less than N13.17tn between 2016 and March 2022 under the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari an analysis by The PUNCH has revealed.

Findings by The PUNCH also showed that during the same period, the government budgeted N4.4tn for education amidst constant criticism by stakeholders, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities, about the low funding of the sector.

Advertisement

According to the information from the Debt Management Office, from 2016 to March 2022, servicing local debts gulped N10.77tn, while the government spent N2.40tn ($7.84bn) to service external debts.

The amount spent on external debt servicing was converted to Naira at the CBN’s exchange rate for the year. For instance, the naira-dollar average exchange rate for 2016 was N197 and N305 in 2017 respectively. It was N305 in 2018 and N360 in 2019. It closed at N380 and N420 in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

From January to December, a total of N1.23tn was spent to service the country’s domestic debts in 2016, during the same year N369.60bn was budgeted for education.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Debt To World Bank Rises By $660m

The figure for domestic debt servicing rose to N1.48tn in 2017 while the budget for education in the same year was N550bn.

In 2018, the country’s domestic debt servicing bill rose to N1.8tn with education at N605.8bn.

Advertisement

The cost of domestic debt servicing came down a bit in 2019 to N1.69tn with N620.50bn budgeted for education.

In 2020, debt servicing rose again to N1.85tn with education gulping N671.7bn. By 2021, domestic debt servicing rose to N2.05tn with education gulping N742.52bn.

On the other hand, external debt servicing gulped $353.09m in 2016. It went up to $464.05m in 2017 and jumped up to $1.47bn in 2018.

Advertisement

In 2019, the country spent $1.33bn on external debt servicing. In 2020, external debt servicing gulped $1.56bn. By 2021, it became $2.11bn.

Between January and March 2022, Nigeria spent N668.69bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $548.79m on external debt servicing while education gulped N923.79bn.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has recommended a benchmark of four to six percent of Gross Domestic Product or 15 to 20 percent of a country’s budget for education.

Advertisement

However, in the seven years of the Buhari regime, the highest allocation was in 2017 when a total percentage of 7.38 was allocated to education.

Experts lament

Commenting on the amount the government spent on debt servicing and low funding of education, experts, in separate interviews with The PUNCH, lamented that educational infrastructure was collapsing because of a shortage of funds.

Advertisement

They noted that the government failed to realise that education is the bedrock of national development.

A professor at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Victor Olumekun, in an interview with The PUNCH, lamented the government had not focused on the education sector.

READ ALSO: Amid Rising Debt, Subsidy Cost Jumps By 370%

Advertisement

Also, the General Secretary of COEASU, Dr Ahmed Lawal, said the government spent money on projects whose contract sums were inflated.

While commenting on the development, the ASUU Chairman at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Dr Gbolahan Bolarin, said the government did not care about education.

But a foremost economist, Bismarck Rewane, stated, “The debt service is necessary to finance the expenditure that was incurred. There is a crisis in the education sector, no question about it and the strike is only a symptom of the fundamental defect in the education system. I’m saying that the amount spent on education should be increased but because the revenues are down, we can only increase it by borrowing more so we cannot, on the one hand, criticise the government for borrowing more and at the same time criticise the government for spending less.”

Advertisement

On his part, the Director, Research and Strategist, Chapel Hill Denham, Tajudeen Ibrahim, stated that the future of education funding in Nigeria was bleak.

He stated, “I think the future of education funding in Nigeria is weak because it doesn’t seem like the government has a concrete plan for the education sector. In as much as that sector is not seeing inflows from investments, what would happen is either the government borrows to finance that sector or they neglect that sector, just like they are currently doing. Education doesn’t bring much income as a sector, it is a sector that the government has to invest in for long-term benefits.”

An economic expert and seasoned academic at Pan Atlantic University, Dr Olusegun Vincent, explained that the moment there was a debt obligation, it becomes a first line charge in revenue, irrespective of other priorities whether education, agriculture, or defence.

Advertisement

Varsity lecturers, others

The spending on debt servicing and the education sector came to the fore on Thursday as findings by our correspondents showed that lecturers in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education had embarked on no fewer than 837 days of strike since the inception of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari in May 2015.

ASUU is currently on strike in protest against members’ poor welfare and lack of adequate funds for universities among others.

Advertisement

The members of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union recently suspended strike for a period of 60 days which, according to the union, will give the government enough time to meet the demands tabled while the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics suspended its strike on May 29, 2022.

The analysis by one of our correspondents revealed that in January 2017, ASUP, under the then national president, Usman Dutse, embarked on a seven-day warning strike from January 30, 2017, to February 5, 2017.

Also, ASUU declared an indefinite strike on August 17, 2017, over unresolved and contentious issues with the Federal Government. The strike was called off on September 17, 2017.

Advertisement

A few days after the suspension of the strike by ASUU, lecturers in polytechnics on November 11, 2017 announced another strike which lasted for 15 days. The strike was called off on November 29, 2017.

In 2018, lecturers in Colleges of Education took the lead when COEASU embarked on a strike on October 9, 2018. The strike was called off on December 5, 2018.

READ ALSO: Marketers Threaten To Halt Fuel Supply In North-West States Over N40bn Debt

Advertisement

ASUU embarked on a three-month nationwide strike on November 4, 2018, due to the Federal Government’s alleged inaction. The strike was suspended on February 7, 2019.

Similarly, ASUP embarked on strike again on December 12, 2018 and also called off its strike on February 13, 2019.

In 2020, ASUU initially embarked on a two-week warning strike.

Advertisement

The warning strike was followed by the longest strike in Nigerian history.

The strike which commenced in March 2020 lasted for a total of 270 days.

The pandemic, according to some stakeholders, added to the extension of the strike which was called off in December.

Advertisement

In 2021, while other academic unions took a break from industrial actions, ASUP embarked on 65-day strike. The strike, which commenced on April 6, 2021, was called off on June 9, 2021.

So far in 2022, ASUU has been on strike for close to 186 days with no end in sight.

While ASUP went on strike for just two weeks, COEASU strike lasted for two months before it called for a suspension.

Advertisement

PUNCH.

 

Advertisement

Business

NNPCL Reduces Fuel Price After Dangote Refinery’s Adjustment

Published

on

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has reduced its premium motor spirit pump price on Thursday, according to DAILY POST.

It was confirmed that NNPCL retail outlets in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have reduced their pump price to N890 per litre from N945.

Advertisement

This new fuel price has been reflected in NNPCL retail outlets such as mega station Danziyal Plaza, Central Area, Wuse Zone 4, Wuse Zone 6, and other of its filling stations in the nation’s capital.

READ ALSO:N5bn Damage: NNPCL Secures Appeal Court Victory Against Ararume

The latest downward review of fuel price in NNPCL outlets represents an N55 reduction in fuel pump price.

Advertisement

It was reduced to N890 per litre this afternoon, down from N945,” an NNPCL fuel attendant told DAILY POST anonymously on Thursday.

This comes a Nigerian filling station, MRS Empire Energy, on Thursday adjusted their fuel pump price to N885 and N946 per litre, down from N910 and N955 per litre.

The latest fuel price reduction trend is unconnected to Dangote Refinery’s ex-depot petrol price adjustment by N30 to N820 per litre from N850 and the price of crude oil in the international market.

Advertisement

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Business

Dangote Refinery Reduces Fuel Price

Published

on

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a reduction in the ex-depot (gantry) price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, commonly known as petrol, by N30, from N850 to N820 per litre, effective from August 12, 2025.

This was disclosed in a statement by the company’s spokesman, Anthony Chijiena, on Tuesday.

Advertisement

The 650,000-barrel-per-day plant said the move is part of its unwavering commitment to national development, assuring the public of a consistent and uninterrupted supply of petroleum products.

READ ALSO:Dangote Refinery Gets New CEO

In line with our dedication to operational excellence and sustainable energy solutions, Dangote Petroleum Refinery will commence the phased deployment of 4,000 CNG-powered trucks for fuel distribution across Nigeria, effective August 15, 2025,” said Chijiena.

Advertisement

The announcement comes as the refinery prepares to commence direct fuel distribution nationwide. The development is expected to lead petroleum product marketers to reduce their pump prices in the coming days.

In Abuja, the retail fuel price stood between N885 and N970 per litre as of Tuesday evening.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Business

Indian Refiners Abandon Russia For Nigerian Crude, As Dangote Refinery Relies On US

Published

on

India Refineries have abandoned Russian crude for Nigerian crude, while domestic refiner Dangote Refinery relies heavily on West Texas Intermediate crude from the United States of America.

This followed a recent sanction threat by US president Donald Trump on India over continued patronage of Russian crude.

Advertisement

According to Reuters, industry sources said that Indian Oil Corporation recently bought one million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude for September 2025 delivery in a tender awarded to global trader Trafigura.

Also included are one million barrels of Angola Girassol, one million barrels of US Mars, three million barrels of Abu Dhabi Murban, and two million barrels of Nigerian oil, according to Reuters.

READ ALSO:‘My Eyes Dey Your Body’: Drama As Portable Professes Love For Regina Daniels

Advertisement

The report noted that the purchase is part of a broader sourcing spree that has seen Indian refiners secure millions of barrels from non-Russian sources post July 2025.

Meanwhile, Indian refiners secured purchases of Nigerian crude grades; the $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, is relying on around 60 percent on US and other imoorts to feed its processing units.

Data showed that the refinery imported an average of 10 million barrels in July 2025, saying it was increasingly relying on the US for its feedstock despite the naira-for-crude deal with the Federal Government, which kicked off in October last year.

Advertisement

According to Reuters, the Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum have bought a million barrels of non-Russian crude billed for delivery in September and October after the US pressured India to halt purchases from Russia.

READ ALSO:

Indian state refiners had been largely absent from the Nigerian crude market spotlight since 2022; they have in the past concentrated on Russian crude amid the Russian-Ukrainian war. However, the Indian refiners paused Russian purchases in late July 2025 after pressure from US President Donald Trump.

Advertisement

On the part of Dangote Refinery, data from commodities analytics firm Kpler showed that in July, US barrels accounted for about 60 percent of Dangote’s 590,000 barrels per day of crude intake, with Nigerian grades making up the remaining 40 percent.

In July, the Dangote refinery’s crude imports surged to a record 590 kbd—driven largely by US barrels overtaking Nigerian supply for the first time—amid ongoing domestic sourcing challenges, Kpler reports.

“While WTI has held a significant share in Dangote’s import slate since March, this is the first time US crude has overtaken Nigerian supply—a shift driven by several factors,” Kpler stated.

Advertisement

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending