The chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, has defended the Federal Government’s decision to keep borrowing despite claims by President Bola Tinubu that the nation has already achieved its 2025 revenue target.
Speaking at the Meet the Press session organised by the Presidential Media Team in Abuja, Adedeji clarified that loans remain a standard part of Nigeria’s budgetary framework.
According to him, the fact that revenue projections were met does not automatically eliminate the need for borrowing.
“What is the component of a budget of a country? You have expenditure, revenue and loan in all budgets,” Adedeji explained.
He noted that the Tinubu administration had already ended the controversial “Ways and Means” practice, a move he described as critical in stabilising Nigeria’s financial system.
“If you remember, one of the decisions of Mr. President is to collateralise Ways and Means. We stopped printing and the whole loan is taken as Federal Government loan. We are paying principal and interest, and that is why you have stability in the system and no pressure on the exchange rate,” he said.
Adedeji argued that borrowing should not be seen as evidence of weak revenue collection, but as an essential element of fiscal planning.
He stressed that every country relies on a combination of income and credit to function effectively.
“Borrowing is not a problem. Banks are part of our economy. There is no country or individual in the world that survives based on its own income,” he said.
Furthermore, he pointed out that borrowing for infrastructure projects is a sustainable strategy.
By investing in roads and other facilities, the government creates avenues for future tax revenue.
“So when Mr President said we have met our target or we are doing well in revenue, and they say why are we borrowing? Is borrowing not part of the budget we submitted to the National Assembly? Are we borrowing outside what is approved?” he asked.
Adedeji also emphasised that bank loans provide a chain of economic benefits, from paying salaries to generating tax revenue for state and federal governments.
According to him, such borrowing, when well-managed, strengthens both the financial sector and the economy at large.
The FIRS boss concluded that the Federal Government’s borrowing plan is aligned with its approved budget, stressing that there is no cause for alarm.
