Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said the numerous foreign loans obtained by President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government are bone-crushing to Nigerians and bringing insufferable pressure on the economy.
Gistmania had earlier reported that the Senate on Thursday, approved another loan request for the president.
The loan, an additional N1.7 trillion through Euro Bonds, according to Tinubu, is to cover the shortfall in the 2024 budget.
But Atiku in a statement, noted that the recent report released by the World Bank, showed that Nigeria is the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), describing it as “very concerning.”
The former vice president stated that what made the recent loan proposal even more concerning was that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of $1 to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stands at over N1,600 to $1.
“Nigeria is sinking further in debt, and the National Assembly has become an accomplice once more,” Atiku regretted.
He recalled that Tnubu had, in July this year, boasted that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Customs under his watch have collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget, and wondered why Nigeria is still borrowing.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets,” he said.
He alleged that the loans were not properly negotiated and utilised, adding, “It is concerning that the voracious appetite for these humongous loans is powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs.
“A report by Budgit, a budget watchdog, has disclosed that the 2024 budget is a mess because of the level of pork associated with it.
“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
“It is time that we apply more caution and apply arithmetic to the loan frenzy.”
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