Loans not achievements, Atiku tells Tinubu

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed concern over reports that the Federal Government is in discussions with the World Bank for another $1.25 billion loan facility, which, if concluded, would rank among the largest fresh borrowings under the current administration.

Recent World Bank and public reporting confirm continued major borrowing activity involving Nigeria, including fresh external financing arrangements.

Atiku, in a statement issued through his Media Aide, Olusola Sanni, said it is both troubling and unconscionable that an administration which promised economic renewal has instead become synonymous with industrial-scale borrowing, “without any corresponding improvement in the daily lives of Nigerians”.

“This borrowing binge is becoming reckless, opaque, and dangerously habitual. The loans are coming with a burden of weight too heavy for Nigerians to bear. Nigerians were told these loans were for infrastructure, power, and economic recovery. Yet the average citizen still lives in darkness, roads remain death traps, businesses are collapsing under crushing energy costs, and hunger has become a national epidemic.

“At this point it has become necessary to demand that the World Bank and, indeed, other creditors apply more prudent measures in ensuring significant compliance to the terms and conditions of these loans.”

The former Vice President repeated his position on the economic merit of the Tinubu administration’s policy on foreign debt when the government makes claims to have increased its revenue generation drive.

“The IDA loans are facilities granted to extremely poor countries and currently shares the same spot with Bangladesh and Pakistan as top countries in world with highest loan exposure to the World Bank. This data is diametrically opposed to claims by the Tinubu administration that the government had increased its revenue generation drive.”

“It is deeply ironic that the same nation which painstakingly exited the Paris Club debt trap through the fiscal discipline, diplomatic credibility, and reform-driven leadership of the Obasanjo-Atiku administration in 2005–2006 is now being dragged back into a fresh era of debt dependency.

“Between May 2023 and now, the Tinubu administration has obtained record massive loans from the World Bank under the titles of objectives that are difficult to verify its implementation.

“The historic debt relief of 2006 was not accidental. It was earned through tough negotiations, prudent management, and international goodwill. Today, that legacy is being squandered with alarming irresponsibility.

“This administration appears to believe that borrowing is governance. It is not. Loans are not achievements. Debt is not development. And mortgaging the future of unborn Nigerians to fund present incompetence is not economic management—it is economic vandalism. We must begin to ask difficult questions, not just of the borrowers, but also of the lenders.

“International financial institutions and credit agencies must exercise greater caution and insist on strict transparency, accountability, and measurable impact before continuing to extend credit facilities to an administration that has shown little evidence of efficient utilisation.

“No responsible lender should ignore the warning signs. A government that keeps borrowing while citizens see no tangible improvement in electricity supply, healthcare, education, or infrastructure raises legitimate concerns about fiscal credibility and governance discipline.

“Nigeria cannot continue down this dangerous path where every economic challenge is answered with another loan request. At some point, creditors must ask themselves whether they are funding development or enabling dysfunction.

“The Tinubu administration must understand that a nation cannot borrow its way out of incompetence. Governance requires vision, discipline, productivity, and trust—not endless promissory notes signed against the future of a suffering people.”

Atiku urged the Federal Government to provide Nigerians with a full account of all loans secured since assuming office, the terms attached to them, disbursement status, and concrete project outcomes tied to each facility.