I remain concerned about our borrowings, considering their galloping situation over the years, and its concomitant effects on the economy.”
By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – Ex-Anambra Governor and former presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has thrashed federal government borrowings, saying though the profile keeps rising, there is no meaningful impact to show.
He made this statement on his X handle on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) last week released the country’s debt profile, showing that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10 percent, hitting N97.3 trillion by the end of 2023.
It also noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion.
He noted that Nigeria’s economy continues to record little or no benefit from the loans, adding that the last administration incurred huge debt especially with the N30 trillion ways and means from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“I remain concerned about our borrowings, considering their galloping situation over the years, and its concomitant effects on the economy.
“More worrisome is the fact that there has been no corresponding visible usage or investments as required by the law, to show their impact on the nation,” he wrote.
“The implication is that what we borrowed in a quarter about N10 trillion and what we spend on debt servicing, which is also about N10 trillion, are each more than the combined budgetary allocation for the four highest priority areas, which are; defence (N3.25trn), Education (N2.18trn), Health (1.33trn), and Infrastructure (N1.32trn),” he said.
Obi therefore called for an assessment of previous loans to ascertain if their benefits are commensurate to their high figures.