The House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to immediately suspend all deductions on COVID-19 intervention loans.
The resolution was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion on urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Saudi Abdullahi, who solicited the House’s intervention.
In his lead debate, Hon. Abdullahi acknowledged that the Federal Government approved the sum of N419.42 billion as COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) during the pandemic to households, micro, small, and medium enterprises to cushion the devastating socioeconomic impact of the global lockdown.
According to him, the fund was disbursed through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NIRSAL Microfinance Bank to 792,936 beneficiaries nationwide, comprising of 674,972 households and 117,964 small businesses, with women accounting for 45% of beneficiaries (about 330,128 women supported with ₦159.21 billion).
“The House further notes that the TCF was credited with creating or sustaining about 1,585,872 jobs, underscoring its significant impact on livelihoods and enterprise stability during and after the pandemic.
“The House is concerned that as at September 2023, ₦261.07 billion (about 62%) of the loans remained unpaid, while ₦378.03 billion was classified as outstanding, reflecting widespread inability to repay among vulnerable households and micro-enterprises.
“The House is further concerned that recent CBN surveys show rising default rates across household and enterprise lending in Q4 2024 and Q2 2025, driven by inflation above 24%, severe food insecurity, loss of purchasing power, business closures, and shrinking household incomes.
“The House believes that despite the high default figures reported in 2023, substantial recoveries have been made through the unplanned automatic deductions from beneficiaries’ bank accounts between late 2023 and December 2025.
“This suggests that the current outstanding exposure may be significantly lower and therefore fiscally manageable for a structured waiver.
“The House recognises that the COVID-19 TCF was fundamentally a survival support loan, not a conventional business facility, as many households used the funds for essential needs such as food, shelter, healthcare, and school fees during the lockdown, making repayment unrealistic for those who have not recovered economically.
“The House also acknowledges that Nigeria has a strong domestic precedent of leniency in the Anchor Borrowers Programme, where despite its commercial nature and a default rate exceeding 50%, the Federal Government has repeatedly provided restructuring and partial waivers,” he noted.
He observed that loan waivers for pandemic-era support align with international best practices; countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, South Africa, and India forgave or waived significant portions of their COVID-19 relief loans or adopted extended moratoriums, recognising the humanitarian context of the pandemic.
“The House is worried that continued automatic debits and aggressive recoveries are inflicting severe hardship on vulnerable Nigerians, risking the collapse of small businesses, worsening unemployment, and heightening social instability.
In the bid to cushion the effects of the current economic challenges, the House called on the Federal Government, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, the Federal Ministry of Finance, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, and CBN to grant total waiver on the outstanding COVID-19 intervention loans owed by vulnerable households and micro-businesses, in recognition of their inability to repay under current harsh economic conditions.
The House also mandated CBN, NIRSAL Microfinance Bank, and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to restructure repayment terms for SMEs by extending moratoriums, reducing interest rates, and spreading repayment over longer timelines to safeguard jobs and prevent business collapse.
Hence, the House mandated the joint House Committees on Banking Regulations, Finance and Poverty Alleviation to liaise with CBN, Federal Ministry of Finance, SMEDAN and NIRSAL Microfinance Bank to ensure transparent, equitable, and efficient implementation of the waiver and restructuring framework.