- Obi said the borrowing spree of the current government lacks transparency and accountability and will mortgage the future of generations and trap the nation in a financial mess
The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has again warned that the borrowing of the president Bola Tinubu-led government portends economic catastrophe for Nigeria.
Obi said the borrowing spree of the current government lacks transparency and accountability and will trap the nation in a financial mess that will mortgage the future of generations.
He warned that with the latest loan approval by the Nigerian Senate for another external borrowing of $21 billion, €2.2 billion, ¥15 billion for the 2025–2026 fiscal cycle, Nigeria’s debt now stands at N187 trillion, with palpable fear that it might climb to N200 trillion before the end of the year.
Writing on his X handle, Obi said Tinubu’s government borrowed the equivalent of nearly 70% of Nigeria’s GDP when the GDP was N269.2 trillion (about $180 billion) before it was rebased.
He added that “Even after the rebasing, which pushed our GDP to about N372.8 trillion (about $243.7 billion), the government would have borrowed about 50.16% of the new GDP (with the approved loans), the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in our history as a nation.
“While the year-on-year increase is about N27.72 trillion and the quarter-on-quarter increase is about N4.72 trillion, we are accumulating very exponential levels of unsustainable debt with little or nothing to show for it in critical areas such as education, healthcare, electricity generation, security of lives and property, and pulling people out of poverty.”
While acknowledging that there is nothing wrong with a country borrowing to meet its obligations to its citizens, Obi stated that such borrowings must be rooted in accountability, productivity and investment in critical areas of the economy that aid the growth of the nation and its people.
He said, “Borrowing is not inherently bad if it is sustainable and tied to productive investments with measurable outcomes. Unfortunately, this current pattern of borrowing without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact is simply mortgaging the future of our children. The government should consider the inter-generational consequences of their unsustainable borrowings and show at least a minimum consideration and interest in the future of young and unborn Nigerians.
“We must return to a disciplined and prudent economic management culture, cutting the cost of governance, blocking leakages, investing in human capital, and building a productive economy. Nigeria cannot continue to borrow recklessly while poverty deepens and public trust erodes.
“It is time to stop this fiscal indiscipline. We must build a New Nigeria, where leadership is responsible, development is people-centred, and every kobo borrowed or spent delivers a measurable impact to achieve sustainable and inclusive development and growth