‘It’s extremely misleading’ — DMO clarifies ‘missing’ N2.2trn in 2018 appropriation act

The Debt Management Office (DMO) has denied reports that it was unable to account for N2.2 trillion allocated to its office in the 2018 appropriation act.

DMO, in a statement on Monday, described the reports as “not only false, but extremely misleading.”

Some media outlets had made the statement following the DMO’s appearance at the hearing of the public accounts committee of the house of representatives on February 26, 2021.

At the session, the committee had enquired about the utilisation of the N2.2 trillion provided in the 2018 appropriation act; of which N2.1 trillion was allocated for debt service and the DMO’s appropriation of N721,251,798.00, making it N2.2 trillion.

During the hearing, DMO explained to the committee that the amount of N2.2 trillion was not available as the DMO’s total allocation, saying the N2.1 trillion was specifically meant for servicing of Nigeria’s domestic and external debt.

“Indeed, the funds for Debt Service are never released to the DMO for spending, rather, in line with the mandate of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), the funds are domiciled with the OAGF, who on the advice of the DMO, effects payments directly to the creditors as at when due, the statement read.

“Such creditors include multilateral and bilateral lenders like the World Bank, African Development Bank, Exim Bank of China, investors in Nigeria’s Eurobonds, as well as, investors in securities issued in the domestic market such as FGN Bonds, SUKUK, Green Bonds and Nigerian Treasury Bills.”

DMO noted that servicing of public debt is absolutely necessary to ensure that Nigeria remains credit-worthy and retains or improves on its sovereign rating which ultimately, will support growth and development.