House Reps Sets Up Panel to Probe Debts Owed to Federal Government

The House of Representatives has inaugurated an ad-hoc committee to investigate debts owed to the Federal Government — with estimates suggesting that state actors, electricity Distribution Companies, and multiple MDAs may collectively be sitting on more than N100 billion in outstanding obligations.

Lawmakers voted to establish the panel on Thursday, appointing Oluwole Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency in Osun State, as its chairman. The committee has a broad mandate: identify who owes what, assess recovery efforts so far, and recommend concrete steps to get the money back.

The Public Accounts Committee, acting separately, gave the country’s electricity Distribution Companies — IBEDC, BEDC, and PHEDC — 72 hours to appear before it and account for more than N100 billion in alleged unpaid debts. Non-appearance risks sanctions.

The numbers are grim. Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N153.29 trillion as of September 2025. Debt servicing consumed 47.85 percent of all government revenue in just the first nine months of 2025 — leaving very little room for development spending.

Salisu Yusuf, who moved the motion that birthed the committee, said successive governments had focused heavily on borrowing and debt servicing while paying insufficient attention to recovering funds already owed to the government. “The Federal Government is owed huge sums of money within and outside the country,” he said. “These sums are held by state and non-state actors.”

The Finance Ministry, the Debt Management Office, and the Central Bank are all expected to give testimony before the committee wraps up its work.

Sources: Punch, The Eagle Online, TV360 Nigeria