Nigeria’s Paris Club debt deal: Rebuttal to Donald Duke’s claims

A rebuttal has been issued regarding Donald Duke’s recent claims about Nigeria’s Paris Club debt relief deal. In a recent interview, Duke suggested that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was not the primary driver of the relief, attributing the success instead to President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Critics argue that Duke’s account omits several years of critical institutional work and reform programs. While Duke was recognized as a leading debt negotiator in 1999, records indicate that his preliminary work did not result in debt cancellation. Following unsuccessful attempts at total cancellation, the Paris Club officially recorded the rescheduling of US$24.297 billion in December 2000 under a delegation led by Chief Philip Asiodu, rather than through the initial campaigns Duke described.