Nigeria may begin turning down World Bank loan facilities if approval and disbursement timelines continue to drag, according to the Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, who raised concerns over delays that are slowing project execution and disrupting fiscal planning.
Speaking during a meeting with a World Bank delegation in Abuja, Ogunjimi said prolonged bureaucratic processes are becoming difficult to justify, especially because the facilities are loans that Nigeria would eventually repay, not grants.
“If approvals take more than six months, the Nigerian Government may no longer honour such arrangements,” he said.
The warning reflects growing frustration within government circles over the pace at which multilateral financing moves from approval to actual release, particularly at a time Nigeria is relying heavily on external funding to support infrastructure, energy, healthcare and governance reforms.
Beyond the diplomatic language, the message points to a deeper issue in Nigeria’s financing strategy. While the country continues to seek development loans, pressure is mounting over the speed, cost and effectiveness of those borrowings. Delayed disbursement creates a mismatch between project timelines and funding availability, leaving ministries and agencies unable to execute programmes on schedule while debt obligations continue to build in the background.
The concern is becoming more sensitive because Nigeria’s exposure to the World Bank has increased sharply in recent years. Data from the Debt Management Office showed the country’s debt to the lender rose to $19.89bn by the end of 2025, up from $17.81bn a year earlier.
At the same time, several approved loans are yet to move into active disbursement nearly a year after approval. The Federal Government is effectively carrying growing external obligations while struggling to access funds quickly enough to match implementation targets.
Ogunjimi’s remarks also suggest that Nigeria wants a shift in how development financing is handled. The government is increasingly demanding faster turnaround and more flexibility from lenders as it tries to balance debt sustainability with urgent economic needs.
The Accountant-General said reforms were already underway to address issues previously raised by the World Bank around audit reporting and public financial management. According to him, the 2023 audit report would be submitted within two weeks, while work on the 2024 and 2025 reports had commenced.
He also said the government was upgrading obsolete infrastructure tied to the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System as part of efforts to improve transparency and efficiency in public finance management.
The World Bank delegation, led by Treed Lane, urged the government to sustain its digitalisation drive and maintain timely financial reporting, describing both as critical to strengthening accountability systems.
The exchange comes amid wider debates over Nigeria’s dependence on multilateral borrowing. Although concessional loans from institutions like the World Bank are considered cheaper than commercial debt, delays in approvals and disbursement can weaken their effectiveness, particularly in an economy dealing with inflation, currency pressure and infrastructure gaps.
The World Bank had earlier explained that project funds are not released as lump sums but in phases tied to milestones and financing conditions. According to the bank, each project follows a separate disbursement structure depending on agreed performance benchmarks and implementation stages.
Still, Nigeria’s latest position signals impatience with a process government officials increasingly see as too slow for the scale of economic challenges the country is trying to address.
