KEY POINTS
- Nigeria spent N3.14 trillion servicing domestic debt in Q1 2026, the DMO said, including N2.97 trillion in interest.
- Monthly costs climbed from N741.82 billion in January to N1.43 trillion in March, nearly half the quarter’s total.
- FGN bonds took N1.96 trillion in interest and treasury bills N1 trillion, as public debt reached N159.35 trillion.
Nigeria spent N3.14 trillion servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter of 2026, the Debt Management Office said in its latest report. That total split into N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments, which means interest alone swallowed about 94.6 percent of the bill.
Costs climbed sharply month by month
According to the DMO, the monthly figures rose steeply through the quarter. The government paid N741.82 billion in January, then N967.67 billion in February, before spending jumped to N1.43 trillion in March. Consequently, March alone accounted for almost half of the quarterly total.
Furthermore, the March bill came in 47.7 percent above February and 92.7 percent above January. That surge pushed the three-month figure to N3.14 trillion and underlined how quickly servicing costs can build when maturities cluster within a single month.
Where the money went
The DMO said interest on Federal Government bonds took the biggest slice at N1.96 trillion, while treasury bills accounted for N1 trillion. In addition, the government paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds. On the principal side, it repaid N169.68 billion on local-denominated promissory notes. Together, those items show how heavily longer-term bonds and short-term bills now weigh on the budget.
Meanwhile, the strain on public finances matters because heavy servicing leaves less room for roads, schools and other priorities, since the government must honour these obligations first. Analysts also watch these ratios closely, because a rising share of revenue going to interest usually signals tighter fiscal space. Still, Nigeria’s public debt edged up only 0.01 percent to N159.35 trillion in the first quarter, which suggests fresh borrowing stayed limited during the period. Nevertheless, the pressure looks set to persist, since President Bola Tinubu said in May that Nigeria would spend $11.6 billion on debt servicing across 2026. That projection covers all obligations, so it sits above the domestic-only figure the DMO reported for the quarter.