$2.209b fresh loan: Mixed reactions trail Tinubu govt’s borrowing spree

On Tuesday, November 19, President Bola Tinubu submitted a request to the National Assembly for an approval to procure a fresh external loan of $2.2 billion.

This followed a nod by the Federal Executive Council for the borrowing plan on November 10.

According to the president, the loan would be used to finance the deficit of N9.7 trillion in the 2024 budget.

The letter to the National Assembly read in parts: “Request for the resolution of the National Assembly for the implementation of the new external borrowing of N1,767,102,179 that is about $2.209bn already enshrined in the 2024 Appropriation Act.

“In accordance with the provisions of Sections 21 and 27 Subsection 1, the Debt Management Office established Act 2003 and the approval of the Federal Executive Council, I write the request for a resolution of the National Assembly to raise the sum of $2.2 09bn.

“The new external borrowing enshrined in the 2024 Appropriations Act, partly financed the budget to about $9.17 trillion.

“Please receive the 2025-2027 MTF and FSP approved during the Federal Executive Council meeting on November 10, 2024.

“The Senate is invited to note that as the 2025 budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria will be prepared based on the parameters and fiscal assumptions of the approved 2025-2027 MTF and FSP, it is imperative to seek the National Assembly’s expeditious legislative action in this submission.”

Soon after the request was made public, Nigerians began to express concern, especially as the 2024 budget which the loan seeks to part-finance would be ending next month.

However, despite the concerns expressed by a vast majority of Nigerians, the National Assembly expeditiously, as requested by the President, gave its approval for the loan.

The approval came 48 hours after President Tinubu wrote to the two chambers of the National Assembly for a new foreign loan, which according to him, was already captured in the 2024 Appropriation Act.

The Senate at plenary received and considered the report of its Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, which was mandated to work on the President’s request.

The report was presented by the Chairman of the Committee, Aliyu Wammako (APC -Sokoto).

Presenting the committee’s report, Wammako had noted that the presidential request was very necessary for approval.

He said the loan request would be utilised for the execution of the ongoing projects and programmes in the 2024 Appropriation Act, stressing that the projects were critical for national growth and development.

“It will contribute to the implementation of the debt management strategy, which seeks to reduce the cost of borrowing. It will lengthen maturity of the public debt stock, free-up space in the domestic market for other borrowers and help increase Nigeria’s external reserves,” he said.

Wammako said Nigeria could raise all or part of the $2.2 billion through the issuance of Eurobonds in the International Capital Market (ICM).

The report was thereafter unanimously approved through an affirmative voice vote.

In his remarks after the approval, the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau (APC-Kano), who presided over the plenary, commended the Wammako-led committee for a job well done.

After the presentation of the report, it was approved by senators, without dissent.

Similarly, the House of Representatives, also considered and approved the loan request following the presentation of the report by the House Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, at plenary.

Reacting to the loan approval, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, said it would exact unbearable negative pressure on the economy

Atiku, in a statement, said a recent report by World Bank, indicated that Nigeria is the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA).

He expressed concern on the development, and blamed the National Assembly for being complicit in the debt which is already drowning the country.

The statement read: “The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning.

“This report is coming just when the government has already sent a proposal to the National Assembly signaling an intention to borrow an additional N1.7 trillion being shortfall in the 2024 budget through Euro Bonds.

“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD.

“Nigeria is sinking further in debt, and the National Assembly has become an accomplice once more. Tinubu had, in July this year, boasted that the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and the Customs under his watch have collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why then are they still borrowing?

“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.

“These Tinubu’s loans are bone-crushing to Nigerians and bring insufferable pressure on the economy, especially when they are not properly negotiated and utilized.”

Atiku further argued that the unending penchant to borrow is borne out of greed and corruption and not necessarily because they want to develop the country’s infrastructure.

He continued: “It is concerning that the voracious appetite for these humongous loans is powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. A report by Budgit, a budget watchdog, has disclosed that the 2024 budget is a mess because of the level of pork associated with it.

“I feel a sense of personal agony seeing that just a few years after the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo took our country out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum. It is time that we apply more caution and arithmetic to the loan frenzy.”

Also reacting, president of the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, Dr Pogu Bitrus lamented that the external loans being procured by the country were not for any meaningful project but for consumption.

He told PulseNets: “It is quite unfortunate that we are funding recurrent and unnecessary expenditures, not even capital projects, with loans, indebting generations yet unborn. It is quite unfortunate that Nigeria has found itself in this situation.”

He noted that “if the loan is for capital projects, Nigerians wouldn’t bother at all. But not when they are for consumption.

“After all the economic issues confronting Nigerians, it is unfortunate that we are still surviving on debts.”

“For example, if we have a project that is capital in nature, which will generate revenues for Nigeria, then we can say it is worth it but undefined terms like saying it is meant to complement; what are complementing?

“We are only getting Nigeria indebted and ruining the future of our country. These loans are not necessary,” he said.

He suggested that Nigeria should borrow a leaf from countries like India.

He said: “Nigerians just have to learn like the Indians did. At a stage, India even refused to import medicine, insisting that if Indians could not produce the medication required for her citizens, they should be left to die.

“That was how India survived and today, it is among the developed nations of the world. So, it is unfortunate that we still have people who think that getting loans all the time is the way to go; that attitude has to change.

“Whatever we have, let us work with it and develop production until we are able to survive and export. I think that is the way forward. I don’t support any loan taking any more because it will mortgage the future of our children.”

In his contribution, a lawyer and politician, Maxi Okwu, equally condemned the development, saying the country’s rising debt profile should be a source of worry to any right thinking Nigerian.

Also Read: Tinubu’s ‘Tax Reform Bill’ Targets Consumption-Based VAT Model

He wondered why leaders cannot think of how to manage the country’s resources to provide infrastructure but to always run to other countries or bodies to borrow.

“The worst is that the loans are not even for capital projects. They are for mere consumption.

“It is quite unfortunate. I don’t even know what to say again. The entire thing is just as confusing as it is unfortunate,” he said.