Financial analyst Kalu Aja has revealed that nearly 95 percent of Nigerians have less than ₦500,000 in their bank accounts.
He made the statement on X on Thursday.
Aja’s comment came in response to President Bola Tinubu’s Special Assistant on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, who tweeted that Nigerian Treasury Bills recently recorded a total subscription of N4.59 trillion.
“This figure represents an oversubscription of nearly four times the initial N1.15 trillion offered by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” Olusegun wrote.
Reacting to this, Aja said that high yields in the debt market are not necessarily a positive sign because they are tied to higher inflation and increased issuer risk.
He added that a healthy economy requires lower interest rates to grow.
Aja pointed out that those celebrating high yields are the wealthy who can invest large sums, while most Nigerians do not have the same financial capacity.
He wrote, “High yields are not a flex; oh, you are essentially compensating for higher inflation and issuer risk. High yields reflect higher borrowing costs to SMEs and are reflective of high government borrowings or sovereign risk. An economy that wants to expand needs lower rates. The folks who celebrate high yield are the rich who can fix cash, but 95 percent of Nigerians don’t have N500,000 in their accounts.”
Data from the capital market on Wednesday showed a surge in T-bill subscriptions as investors chased high yields.
In June 2025, Nigeria’s total public debt was N152.40 trillion ($99.66 billion), according to the Debt Management Office. The figure is expected to rise due to recent borrowings by President Tinubu’s administration.
The 2026 budget proposal of N58.18 trillion has a projected deficit of N23.85 trillion.
