The Federal Government’s efforts to secure a new $1.25 billion loan from the World Bank have been denounced by the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The ADC questioned why the government was looking for a new loan given the nation’s huge debt profile of over ₦159.28 trillion, according to a statement made by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi.
This suggests that the government is operating a Ponzi scheme, according to the opposition coalition.
The ADC charged that as Nigerians face growing food costs, unemployment, insecurity, business closures, and escalating inflation, the government is taking out fresh loans to pay off previous obligations.
The opposition party voiced worry that President Tinubu’s loan requests had been approved without adequate vetting by the National Assembly, which is tasked with supervising the administration.
“The ADC is equally concerned that the National Assembly, which should act as a check on executive excesses, has been reduced to a mere rubber stamp, approving massive borrowing requests with little resistance or serious public scrutiny, even as debt servicing continues to consume an increasingly unsustainable portion of government revenue,” the statement states.
“Just a few weeks after the National Assembly approved yet another round of foreign borrowing totaling billions of dollars, the Tinubu administration’s new attempt to seek another fresh $1.25 billion World Bank loan profoundly alarms ADC.
“At this juncture, Nigerians need to pose a straightforward question: why are Nigerians becoming poorer and the majority’s lives becoming more difficult if this administration continues to borrow trillions of naira every few months?
Nigeria’s total public debt now stands at approximately N159.28 trillion, but food prices are rising every day, electricity rates are rising, the currency is still weak, businesses are closing, insecurity is growing, and millions of young Nigerians are unemployed. Families are reducing their meal intake, manufacturers are finding it difficult to make ends meet, and small firms are failing due to inflation and unfavorable economic conditions.
“For this reason, the ADC claims that the Tinubu administration is operating a Ponzi economy, where ordinary Nigerians are left to bear the burden while new loans are continuously taken out to pay off old debts and cover fiscal failures.”
“President Bola Tinubu himself has declared that Nigeria will spend about $11.6 billion, over ₦15 trillion, on debt servicing alone in 2026,” the statement continued. To put it simply, trillions of naira that could have been used for roads, hospitals, schools, power, security, agriculture, and the creation of jobs will instead be used for loan servicing and creditor payments.
The speed and scope of the borrowing are even more troubling. The Tinubu administration has sought or obtained numerous World Bank facilities and external loans totaling several billions of dollars since taking office in May 2023.
“This government creates a new acronym every time they wish to borrow money. All of these terms—ARMOR, RESET, HOPE, and SPIN—are just different names for the same justification for continuing to borrow money without any way to quantify the effects on Nigerians’ lives.
“With the promise that short-term sacrifice would result in long-term recovery, the government eliminated gasoline subsidies, depreciated the Naira, raised electricity prices, and imposed harsh economic measures on citizens. A portion of the loans are purportedly taken out to lessen the effects of these strict regulations. Instead, while the government continues to accrue more debt, Nigerians continue to face one of the biggest cost-of-living problems in recent memory.
“A serious government borrows money to develop industries, maintain power, generate employment, increase exports, enhance transportation, and boost the economy in ways that people can truly feel.” However, Nigerians are unable to identify any quantifiable improvement in their day-to-day lives that corresponds with the amount of debt accruing in their names as a result of all this borrowing.
