- Atiku said that loans under the current government are debilitating to Nigerians and putting the nation’s economy under intolerable strain
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has slammed the National Assembly for granting president Bola Tinubu ‘humongous’ and corruption-powered loan requests.
Atiku said national assembly is an accomplice in the destruction of Nigeria’s economy by trapping the nation in debt incurred through cripple dollar-denominated loan.
He also expressed his disgust at the Tinubu’s administration to borrow an additional N1.7 trillion, being shortfall in the 2024 budget, through Euro bonds.
Atiku said that loans under the current government are debilitating to Nigerians and putting the nation’s economy under intolerable strain.
The former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate also described as unsettling the rating of Nigeria by the World Bank as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA).
Atiku, in a statement on Thursday, said there’s something Tinubu’s government is not telling Nigerians.
He 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.
“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.
“Nigeria is sinking further into debt, and the National Assembly has become an accomplice once more. In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the @FIRSNigeria and @CustomsNG 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, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.
“These @officialABAT’s loans are bone-crushing to Nigerians and bringing insufferable pressure on the economy, especially when they are not properly negotiated and utilized.
“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 to apply more caution and arithmetic to the loan frenzy.”
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