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\nObi<\/p>\n
\nObi<\/p>\n
By Publisher
\nKindly share:<\/p>\n
Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, has criticised the mounting debt profile of the country under President Bola Tinubu.<\/p>\n
The former Anambra governor warned that the government is mortgaging the future of unborn generations through unsustainable and unaccountable borrowing.<\/p>\n
He deplored the Senate\u2019s recent approval of additional external loans totalling $21 billion, \u20ac2.2 billion, and \u00a515 billion for the 2025\u20132026 fiscal period, describing it as worrisome.<\/p>\n
Obi noted in a statement issued on Monday, that the Red Chamber of the National Assembly had also approved a \u20a6750.98 billion domestic bond issuance and a \u20ac65 million grant.<\/p>\n
According to him, Nigeria\u2019s total public debt as of the first quarter of 2025,
\nstood at \u20a6149.39 trillion, and with the new approvals amounting to about \u20a637.2 trillion, the debt burden has risen to about \u20a6187 trillion, warning that if unchecked, the country’s total debt may exceed \u20a6200 trillion by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs our GDP before rebasing was about \u20a6269.2 trillion (about $180 billion), the government has borrowed the equivalent of nearly 70% of our previous GDP,” Obi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven after the rebasing, which pushed our GDP to about \u20a6372.8 trillion (about $243.7 billion), the government would have borrowed about 50.16% of the new GDP \u2014 the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in our history as a nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still rank low in all major human development indicators. While education is underfunded and standard in continuous decline, healthcare remains inaccessible to millions of Nigerians, particularly the poor.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecurity of lives and property has deteriorated with over 10,217 people killed and 672 villages sacked between May 29, 2023 and May 29, 2025, even though security spending has significantly increased from \u20a62.98 trillion in 2023 to \u20a64.91 trillion in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Nigeria’s dilapidated road infrastructure, Obi pointed out that about 135,000km of Nigeria\u2019s 195,000km of roads remain unpaved and unusable, adding that the country still generates and distributes less than 5,000 megawatts of electricity in spite of it’s population of over 200 million people.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, over two years after the present government took over and with all the humongous borrowing, we are still confronted with negative reports of worsening poverty,” he stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 133 million (63%) Nigerians are classified as multi-dimensionally poor, unemployment is increasing, and we receive disheartening news like 652 children dead as the malnutrition crisis worsens in Northern Nigeria.”<\/p>\n
He posited that meaningful borrowing must be sustainable and tied to measurable, productive investments.<\/p>\n
However, he added: \u201cUnfortunately, this current pattern of borrowing without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact is simply mortgaging the future of our children.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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. <\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria cannot continue to borrow recklessly while poverty deepens and public trust erodes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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 measurable impact,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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