Nigeria spent ₦3.14 trillion servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest report released by the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The report showed that ₦2.97 trillion of the total was used to pay interest on government debt, while ₦169.68 billion went toward principal repayments.
Debt servicing costs rose steadily throughout the quarter. The Federal Government spent ₦741.82 billion in January, ₦967.67 billion in February, and ₦1.43 trillion in March. March alone accounted for nearly half of the quarter’s total expenditure and represented a 47.7% increase over February’s figure.
The DMO noted that interest payments made up about 94.6% of all domestic debt servicing during the period, highlighting the growing cost of maintaining the country’s debt obligations.
Treasury bills attracted the highest interest payments at ₦1 trillion, while servicing Federal Government bonds cost ₦1.96 trillion. An additional ₦4.24 billion was paid as interest on FGN Savings Bonds.
On the principal side, the government repaid ₦169.68 billion on local currency-denominated promissory notes.
The report also indicated that Nigeria’s total public debt rose marginally by 0.01% to ₦159.35 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring the continued pressure of debt servicing on public finances.
