Nigeria’s House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee has called officials of the Debt Management Office (DMO) and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to explain audit queries concerning government borrowing and unpaid debts.
PUNCH reported that hearings were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, 12 and 13 October 2026, to examine findings in the Auditor-General for the Federation’s 2024 report.
DMO disputes the borrowing calculation
The official audit report recorded ₦88.67 trillion in domestic and foreign debt issues between 2020 and 2024, compared with ₦34.10 trillion in budgeted debt financing.
It put the difference at ₦54.57 trillion and said evidence of National Assembly approval for the excess debt issues had not been provided to auditors.
The DMO disputed the calculation. In its response, included in the audit, it said the figures counted the replacement of existing debt as new borrowing and left out some approved borrowing.
The agency put approved borrowing, including supplementary budgets, at ₦40.50 trillion.
The Auditor-General considered the response unsatisfactory and kept the finding. The dispute concerns how borrowing was counted and approved; the audit does not establish a criminal offence.
TCN asked about unpaid debts
The audit also recorded ₦446.70 billion owed to TCN as at 31 December 2024.
This included about ₦217.68 billion in unpaid Federal Government support to cover electricity tariff shortfalls and ₦229.02 billion in unpaid bills from electricity distribution companies.
The ₦882.75 billion figure in the audit’s summary of unpaid debts covers six agencies. It is not TCN’s debt total.
TCN acknowledged the outstanding balance but said market billing and debt recovery were handled by the Nigerian Independent System Operator’s market operations arm.
It also said it had written to the finance minister seeking payment of the government’s share. The Auditor-General kept the finding because the money remained unpaid at the time of the review.
Committee requests documents
According to PUNCH, the committee’s invitation was dated 29 September 2026. It required the agencies to submit documents at least 72 hours before their hearings.
Accounting officers and relevant experts were directed to attend at 1 p.m. The committee is chaired by Bamidele Salam.
