President Bola Tinubu has withdrawn his request for approval to secure external loans worth $20.5 billion and €1.05 billion, replacing it with a fresh $7.7 billion borrowing proposal to help finance Nigeria's 2026 budget deficit. The policy shift was conveyed in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary on Wednesday. The withdrawn request had been sent only a week earlier under the 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan. Under the revised submission, the government is seeking approval for $7,707,404,882.49, worth roughly ₦10.9 trillion at ₦1,400 to the dollar.

What the new plan covers

Mr Tinubu said the borrowing is the external part of ₦29.2 trillion in new borrowing already in the 2026 Appropriation Act, meant to finance a deficit of about ₦31.4 trillion. Of that total, ₦18.4 trillion is to be raised from domestic sources and about ₦10.79 trillion from external sources. The funds are earmarked for projects in defence and security, transport, agriculture, power, education and healthcare. He said the money would be raised mainly through Eurobonds, described as faster and cheaper, plus concessional and commercial facilities from multilateral and bilateral institutions, IMF facilities, bridge financing and direct borrowing.

Senate scrutiny still to come

Mr Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committees on Local and Foreign Debts and Appropriations, asking them to report back as soon as practicable. He said the new letter effectively superseded the earlier request, describing it as more explicit on financing arrangements. The proposed borrowing still needs approval by the National Assembly before the government can proceed. Nigeria's total public debt stood at ₦166.79 trillion, about $120.93 billion, at 30 June 2026, the Debt Management Office said — ₦91.59 trillion domestic and ₦75.20 trillion external.

[Source: ThisDay](https://thisday.com.ng/tinubu-withdraws-20-5bn-e1-05bn-loan-request-seeks-fresh-7-7bn-borrowing-approval-from-senate/) | [Source: Zawya via Reuters (TradingView)](https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2026-11-05:newsml_Zaw9d4PQZ:0-zawya-nigeria-tinubu-seeks-approval-for-new-7-7bln-loan-withdraws-earlier-requests/)