Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concerns over President Bola Tinubu's move to obtain a fresh $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank. Atiku, in a statement, accused Tinubu of running a government that demands endless sacrifice from Nigerians while reaching endlessly for fresh loans. He emphasized that the President must first account for the money already borrowed. This criticism comes as Nigeria's public debt has hit ₦166.79 trillion.
Atiku's statement, issued by the Director of Strategic Communications of the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, described Tinubu's record as an indictment of his economic stewardship. Atiku pointed out that families are struggling to afford basic necessities like food, fuel, and electricity, yet the debt continues to climb. He noted that Nigerians were promised that painful policies would free resources for development, but they have felt the pain without seeing the desired results.
According to Atiku, if Nigeria's public debt were divided among everyone, each person's share would be ₦716,822 today, an 87 per cent increase from three years ago when it was ₦383,442. He expressed concern that Tinubu has made today difficult and tomorrow more uncertain. Atiku questioned what the government has built and who has benefited from its policies, urging Nigerians not to trust him with another term in office without seeing tangible results.
The proposed $500 million facilities for climate resilience, social protection, and early childhood development address real needs, Atiku acknowledged. However, he stressed that worthy programme names cannot stand in for a public account of how previous loans were spent or a clear plan for delivering measurable results. Atiku demanded that the government publish the projects to be funded, the communities and citizens expected to benefit, and the terms of borrowing and disbursement.
Atiku also challenged the government to reconcile its appetite for borrowing with its repeated claims of higher revenue and savings from petrol subsidy removal. He asked, "If more money is coming in, why does the debt keep climbing? If Nigerians have sacrificed so much, where are the results?" Atiku emphasized that a government cannot keep announcing savings, signing loans, and asking the same struggling families to wait for relief.
Atiku urged the government to provide transparency and accountability in its borrowing and spending. He stated that climate resilience must mean identifiable land restored, irrigation delivered, and communities protected from flooding. Social protection must identify who receives support and when, while early childhood development must produce measurable gains in nutrition, healthcare, and learning.
Atiku concluded that the question before Tinubu was no longer how many development programmes his government could name, but what Nigerians could see, use, and independently verify. He demanded that the government show the money already received, what it built, and who benefited, and account for the debt already on Nigeria's books before borrowing another dollar.
Key points
- Atiku Abubakar criticizes President Tinubu's plan to obtain a fresh $1.5bn loan, citing lack of transparency in previous borrowings.
- Nigeria's public debt has hit ₦166.79 trillion, with each person's share increasing to ₦716,822.
- Atiku demands transparency and accountability in government's borrowing and spending.
