Atiku to Tinubu: Account for existing debt before $1.5bn World Bank loan

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has questioned the Federal Government’s plan to seek a fresh $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank, asking it to account for money already borrowed.

With public debt at N166.79 trillion, Atiku said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must first provide an account of existing borrowing.

Reacting through the Director of Strategic Communications of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said families are struggling to afford food, fuel and electricity while debt continues to climb.

“Nigerians were promised that painful policies would free resources for development. They have felt the pain. Where is the development?” he said.

“If Nigeria’s public debt were divided among everyone, each person’s share would be N716,822 today. Three years ago, it was N383,442. That is an 87 per cent increase,” Atiku said.

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He said proposed $500 million facilities for climate resilience, social protection and early childhood development address real needs, but programme names cannot replace public account of how previous loans were spent or clear plan for delivering measurable results.

“Before these loans are concluded, government must publish projects to be funded, communities and citizens expected to benefit, targets for each programme, terms of borrowing and disbursement, and timetable Nigerians can use to track delivery.

“Climate resilience must mean identifiable land restored, irrigation delivered and communities protected from flooding. Social protection must identify who receives support and when. Early childhood development must produce measurable gains in nutrition, healthcare and learning,” he said.

Atiku challenged government to reconcile borrowing with claims of higher revenue and savings from petrol subsidy removal.

“If more money is coming in, why does debt keep climbing? If Nigerians have sacrificed so much, where are results?” he said.

He said question before government is what Nigerians can see, use and independently verify.

“Show us the money already received. Show us what it built. Show us who benefited. Account for the debt already on Nigeria’s books before borrowing another dollar,” he said.