The Debt Management Office (DMO) has called on state governments across Nigeria to strictly comply with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) when contracting loans, warning that adherence to the law is critical for sustainable public finance.
The Director-General of the DMO, Ms Patience Oniha, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during a workshop on borrowing guidelines for officials of state governments.
Oniha stressed that responsible and lawful borrowing by sub-national governments is essential to maintaining debt sustainability and fiscal discipline. She explained that the DMO has continued to invest in capacity-building programmes for state governments and the Federal Capital Territory to improve their understanding of debt management practices.
According to her, the training covers key areas such as debt recording, debt sustainability analysis, and the development of medium-term debt management strategies, all aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability in public borrowing.
“We have been doing capacity building for what we call the sub-national governments, meaning the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, to put them through the things that we do — debt recording, debt sustainability analysis, medium-term debt management strategy, and how to properly record debt,” Oniha said.
She noted that the workshop was designed to go beyond discussions about existing debt stock, focusing instead on the legal and procedural requirements for borrowing.
“This is very important because we want the states to be familiar with the guidelines for borrowing and to adhere strictly to the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which clearly sets the conditions for borrowing,” she added.
Oniha described the workshop as a targeted training programme aimed at ensuring that state officials fully understand the processes, requirements, and approvals needed before taking on new debt, in order to promote responsible fiscal management at the sub-national level.
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