The Debt Management Office (DMO) has reported that the federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026.
This information was disclosed in the DMO’s latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026. The total expenditure includes N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments.
In January, the government spent N741.82 billion on domestic debt service.
This amount increased to N967.67 billion in February, and further rose to N1.43 trillion in March. Consequently, the total spending for the quarter reached N3.14 trillion.
The amount spent in March represented a 47.7 percent increase compared to the N967.67 billion spent in February and a 92.7 percent increase over the N741.82 billion spent in January.
Additionally, the DMO noted that interest payments accounted for approximately 94.6 percent of the total domestic debt service in that quarter.
The DMO said treasury bills accounted for the largest share of interest payments at N1 trillion, while interest on federal government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion.
The agency said the government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the period.
The DMO said the principal component of the debt service comprised N169.68 billion in repayments on local-denominated promissory notes.
Overall, the government’s domestic debt service rose sharply through the quarter, with March accounting for almost half of the N3.14 trillion spent between January and March.
Nigeria’s public debt increased by 0.01 percent to N159.35 trillion in the Q1 of 2026.
On May 13, President Bola Tinubu said Nigeria would spend $11.6 billion on debt servicing in 2026.