A social media commentator identified as @thebabafila on X has defended the Federal Government’s continued borrowing despite the removal of fuel subsidy, following recent remarks by the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

The commentator argued that the removal of subsidy did not automatically translate into surplus funds for the government, stressing that Nigeria still faces major budget deficits and financial obligations.

Reacting to Sanusi’s criticism of the Federal Government’s rising debt profile after subsidy removal, the X user questioned what alternative sources of funding were available to government if borrowing stopped.

According to him, Sanusi himself had warned during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan that failure to remove subsidy would push the country towards economic hardship and possible bankruptcy.

He said the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria had previously maintained that subsidy payments were being sustained through borrowing and warned Nigerians against trusting any political leader who promised an easy economic path.

The commentator stated that subsidy removal merely halted borrowing to sustain fuel payments and did not eliminate the country’s wider fiscal challenges.

He claimed that Nigeria’s 2025 budget stood at about ₦68 trillion, while projected government revenue from agencies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian Ports Authority was about ₦28 trillion.

According to him, about ₦15 trillion would go into debt servicing, while another ₦15 trillion would be spent on recurrent expenditure, leaving the government with a large funding gap for capital projects.

“If we don’t borrow, what alternatives do we have?” the commentator asked, adding that while corruption remains a concern, the government still has a responsibility to keep the country running.

He also argued that relying on recovered looted funds was unrealistic because of the lengthy legal processes involved in asset recovery and prosecution.