Atiku Condemns Tinubu’s Loans Making Nigeria Third Largest Debtor To World Bank, Says National Assembly Leaders Are Accomplices

Former Nigeria Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for driving Nigeria deeper into debt, accusing it of recklessness, corruption, and economic mismanagement.

In a statement on Thursday while reacting to a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), Atiku said, “The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning.”

He slammed the administration’s borrowing spree, highlighting its proposal to borrow N1.7trillion to cover the 2024 budget deficit. “This report is coming just when the government has already sent a proposal to the National Assembly signalling an intention to borrow an additional N1.7tn being shortfall in the 2024 budget through Euro Bonds,” he said.

Atiku condemned the proposed loan’s benchmark rate, stating, “What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD.”

He accused the National Assembly of enabling the borrowing frenzy.

“Nigeria is sinking further into debt, and the National Assembly has become an accomplice once more,” Atiku declared.

He questioned Tinubu’s revenue claims, stating, “In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the Federal Inland Revenue Services and the Nigerian Customs Service under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the Budget. Why are they still borrowing? There is something that they are not telling Nigerians.”

Atiku described the loans as detrimental to citizens, warning, “These President Bola Tinubu loans are bone-crushing to Nigerians and bringing insufferable pressure on the economy, especially when they are not properly negotiated and utilised.”

He alleged corruption behind the borrowing spree, saying, “It is concerning that the voracious appetite for these humongous loans is powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs.”

He cited a BudgIt report that exposed the 2024 budget as “a mess because of the level of pork associated with it.”

Reflecting on past achievements, Atiku said, “I feel a sense of personal agony seeing that just a few years after the administration of President Obasanjo took our country out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum.”

Calling for fiscal responsibility, he concluded, “It is time to apply more caution and arithmetic to the loan frenzy.”

The statement reads in parts, “The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning.

“This report is coming just when the government has already sent a proposal to the National Assembly signalling an intention to borrow an additional N1.7tn being shortfall in the 2024 budget through Euro Bonds.

“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD.

“These President Bola Tinubu loans are bone-crushing to Nigerians and bringing insufferable pressure on the economy, especially when they are not properly negotiated and utilised.”