Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed that Federal Government spent N3.14 trillion servicing its domestic debt obligations in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026.
Gatekeepers News reports that the figure represents a 20.3 percent increase from the N2.61 trillion spent during the corresponding period in 2025.
DMO disclosed the figures in its latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026, showing that N2.97 trillion of the total went to interest payments, while N169.68 billion was used for principal repayments.
Domestic debt servicing increased progressively during the quarter. The government spent N741.82 billion in January, N967.67 billion in February and N1.43 trillion in March. The March figure was 47.7 percent higher than the amount recorded in February and 92.7 percent above January’s figure.
Interest payments accounted for about 94.6 percent of the total domestic debt service during the period, highlighting the significant cost of servicing the country’s existing domestic obligations.
Treasury bills accounted for about N1 trillion of the interest payments, while interest on Federal Government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion. The government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the quarter.
The DMO said the principal repayment component comprised N169.68 billion paid on local-denominated promissory notes.
The Q1 figure also represents a 37.5 percent increase from the N2.28 trillion spent on domestic debt servicing in the fourth quarter of 2025, indicating a continued rise in the government’s debt-service burden.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s total public debt increased marginally to N159.35 trillion as of March 31, 2026, from N159.28 trillion at the end of December 2025.
The latest figures come amid the Federal Government’s broader debt-servicing obligations, with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu saying in May that Nigeria would spend $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026.
