Nigeria may begin rejecting future World Bank loan arrangements if prolonged approval and disbursement delays continue affecting government-funded projects, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, has warned.
The warning signals growing frustration within the Federal Government over what officials describe as lengthy bureaucratic processes tied to international development financing.
Ogunjimi issued the warning in Abuja during a meeting with a World Bank delegation led by Mrs Treed Lane, manager of the World Bank team.
According to the Accountant-General, Nigeria expects faster processing timelines because the facilities involved are loans that must eventually be repaid, not grants or aid packages.
“If approvals take more than six months, the Nigerian Government may no longer honour such arrangements,” Ogunjimi stated during the meeting.
He argued that delayed approvals can negatively affect project implementation schedules, fiscal planning, and broader development priorities.
The Accountant-General maintained that as a responsible borrower, Nigeria should not continue facing extended waiting periods before accessing approved development funds.
The warning comes amid rising public debate over Nigeria’s growing debt profile and the increasing dependence on multilateral financing institutions such as the World Bank.
Recent reports showed that the World Bank approved billions of dollars in loans to Nigeria over the past two years to support infrastructure, social programmes, public sector reforms, and economic recovery initiatives.
However, several approved facilities have reportedly experienced slow disbursement processes due to administrative procedures, compliance requirements, and project documentation reviews.
Government officials fear that such delays could disrupt critical national projects tied to infrastructure development, public finance reforms, and economic growth programmes.
Ogunjimi also revealed that the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has already begun addressing issues previously raised by the World Bank regarding financial reporting and public sector accountability.
According to him, the 2023 Audit Report will be submitted to the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation within two weeks, while work on the 2024 and 2025 audit reports is already ongoing.
The Accountant-General further assured the delegation that Nigeria is upgrading the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) by replacing obsolete infrastructure with modern technology to improve efficiency and transparency.
The GIFMIS platform remains one of the Federal Government’s major financial management systems used to monitor budget implementation, payments, and public expenditure.
Analysts say the government’s latest position reflects increasing pressure on Nigeria’s fiscal managers to balance development financing needs with debt sustainability concerns.
Nigeria continues to face significant financing gaps across infrastructure, healthcare, education, agriculture, and energy sectors.
As a result, multilateral loans from institutions such as the World Bank and African Development Bank have remained central to many public projects and reform programmes.
However, economic experts warn that excessive dependence on external borrowing could create long-term fiscal pressures if projects financed through the loans fail to generate sufficient economic returns.
Others argue that delayed loan disbursement can weaken project execution timelines, increase costs, and create uncertainty for ministries and agencies relying on international financing support.
The World Bank delegation reportedly encouraged the Nigerian government to sustain efforts aimed at improving public financial management systems and digital reforms.
Mrs Treed Lane also congratulated Ogunjimi on his recent appointment as African chairman of the Association of Accountants-General and urged Nigeria to maintain timely financial reporting standards.
The latest development highlights the delicate relationship between Nigeria and international financial institutions at a time when the country is aggressively pursuing economic reforms and infrastructure expansion.
For now, attention remains on whether the World Bank will respond by accelerating approval timelines for pending Nigerian projects.