FG won’t publish details of $5bn Abu Dhabi loan — Oyedele

Nigeria's Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele has pushed back against calls for transparency regarding a $5 billion financing facility with First Abu Dhabi Bank, asserting that the government will not publish specific spending details for this particular loan.

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We will not publish how we are spending it. We will publish how we spend government money. There’s nothing special about that loan.

Oyedele argued that the transaction has been subjected to "unnecessary scrutiny," emphasizing that the facility was approved by the National Assembly and is designed to help the government refinance existing, more expensive debt. He made these remarks during a media briefing in Abuja, where he defended the government's borrowing practices. Nigeria recently drew the first tranche of $1.5 billion from the Total Return Swap facility, despite concerns raised by the International Monetary Fund and Fitch Ratings about the transparency and risks associated with such financing structures.

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Nobody has asked us whether we’re going to publish the money we took from the World Bank, whether we publish the one from Eurobond, whether we publish the one from Sukuk. Why is this one special?

The $5 billion facility received National Assembly approval on March 31, 2026, with the initial drawdown intended to support the 2026 budget, infrastructure projects, and debt refinancing. Responding to questions about public disclosure, Oyedele stated, "We will publish how we spend government money. There’s nothing special about that loan." He questioned the heightened attention on this loan compared to others from the World Bank, Eurobond, or Sukuk, asking, "Why is this one special?"

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The loan was approved not only by FEC, it was taken to National Assembly because what some people are doing is they comparing with other countries where they did it under the table.

Oyedele also dismissed claims that the transaction lacked due process, pointing to its presentation to the National Assembly. He asserted that the loan was approved by the Federal Executive Council and then taken to the National Assembly, questioning what could be more public than that. The minister added that the government is accessing the funds in phases to avoid incurring costs on unused portions, explaining that the facility's flexible interest rate differs from Nigeria's traditional fixed-rate borrowing.

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What else can be more public than what you gave to the National Assembly?