Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has questioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s request for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and pound 1.045 billion.
Atiku said the request vindicated his October 12 warning about a proposed loan of up to $20 billion.
Reacting on Tuesday through the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the President’s failure to identify the specific projects the loans would fund raised concerns.
‘On October 12, I warned Nigerians that President Tinubu was reportedly preparing to borrow up to $20 billion in connection with the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. I asked him to confirm or deny the plan and publish the accounts. He did neither. Today, he has asked the Senate to approve $20.52 billion and pound 1.045 billion in external loans. My warning has been vindicated,’ Atiku said.
He said the President had listed broad sectors but had not provided a project-by-project account of what the borrowing would fund.
‘Nigerians have not been given clear project details, costs, locations or contractors to scrutinise. That silence is especially troubling given the highway’s inland rerouting,’ he said.
Atiku questioned whether the borrowed funds could be channelled through projects to political campaigners and favoured contractors.
‘Barely 12 weeks before an election, how can the President ask lawmakers to saddle Nigerians with more than $20 billion and pound 1 billion in debt without identifying projects and their costs? Is this a development plan for Nigerians or a campaign financing scheme dressed up as infrastructure?’ he asked.
He said that, if elected president, he would scrutinise every loan taken by the administration, especially those obtained in its final year.
‘I put local and international lenders on notice: any loan granted to this administration must meet all constitutional, statutory and due process requirements. Upon assumption of office, I will scrutinise every such loan. Any borrowing found to have been obtained without proper authorisation or process will be challenged,’ he said.
Atiku urged the National Assembly not to approve the loans until the President published details of every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation.
‘No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future,’ he said.
He said the burden was on the President to prove that the borrowing would serve the country’s interests and urged lawmakers to subject the proposal to rigorous scrutiny.
He added that families already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis should not be made to shoulder debts they had not approved.