The candidate of thePeople’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 23, 2019 presidential election, Mr. Atiku Abubakar, has expressed worry over Nigeria’s increased debt profile under the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement yesterday by his spokesman, Mr. Paul Ibe entitled, ‘Sounding the alarm before Nigeria collapses under unsustainable debt,’ Atiku described the debt profile as “alarming.”
He said as of May 29, 2015, Nigeria’s debt at N12 trillion but increased N24.3 trillion by December 2018 due to alleged profligate spending and irresponsible borrowing
“As alarming as this is, what is more troubling is that between December 2018 and March 2019, the administration of General Buhari added an additional and unprecedented ₦560 billion debt to our national debt profile,” he said.
He said some of the projects that ramped up the debt, “such as Trademoni, were politically engineered to win people’s votes in the just concluded Presidential election and were “discontinued after the election.”
“What could this junta have needed that amount for? If you take those dates into account, they fell on the period of electioneering, when monies were freely distributed by officials of this government in the name of Tradermoni and other election gimmicks that were discontinued after the election.
“We find it inconceivable that Nigeria could have had such unprecedented borrowing in the midst of almost unimaginable sorrow, which resulted in our nation becoming the world headquarters of extreme poverty and the global capital of out-of-school children, even as we slipped in the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International.”
“As someone who headed the National Economic Council that paid off Nigeria’s entire debt under the visionary leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Atiku Abubakar has the moral authority to call those who are turning Nigeria into a beggar nation to halt the drift into unsustainable borrowing.
“We cannot continue to borrow to pay salaries and support luxuries. Already, over 50 per cent of our revenue is going towards debt servicing, not even debt repayments.
“We raise this alarm as responsible citizens and call on other lovers of Nigeria to speak up as we have no other nation to call our home, but Nigeria.”
