President Bola Tinubu has withdrawn his request for approval to process external loans worth $20.5 billion and €1.05 billion, replacing it with a much smaller $7.7 billion borrowing plan to part-finance Nigeria's 2026 budget deficit.

The new request, for $7,707,404,882.49 — about ₦10.9 trillion at ₦1,400 to the dollar — was contained in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary on Wednesday 4 November. Akpabio referred it to the Senate Committees on Local and Foreign Debts and Appropriations, directing them to report back as soon as practicable.

The withdrawn proposal, sent to the Senate only the previous week under the 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan, sought $20,517,755,901 and €1,045,083,643.

Eurobonds to lead the borrowing

Tinubu said the $7.7 billion would be raised mainly through Eurobond issuance, which he described as faster to conclude and able to raise larger amounts at a relatively lower cost. Other options include concessional and commercial facilities from multilateral and bilateral institutions, IMF facilities, bridge financing and direct borrowing from international financial institutions. Final terms, interest rates and repayment periods will be set at the time of pricing.

The president said the money would fund projects in infrastructure, defence and security, transport, agriculture, power, education and healthcare. The facility is the external component of the ₦29.2 trillion in new borrowing approved in the 2026 Appropriation Act, split between ₦18.4 trillion domestic and ₦10.79 trillion external borrowing.

The request comes as Nigeria's total public debt stood at ₦166.79 trillion ($120.93 billion) at 30 June 2026, according to the Debt Management Office. In March, the National Assembly approved a separate $6 billion external borrowing plan, including $5 billion from First Abu Dhabi Bank for the budget and a $1 billion UK facility for port rehabilitation.