Fresh loan: FG replies Atiku, Obi, says borrowing’ll drive growth

• Makinde kicks, demands withdrawal

From **Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye and Ndubuisi Orji, **Abuja

The Federal Government has defended its proposed $21.7 billion external borrowing plan against criticisms by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State governor Peter Obi, insisting that the funds would finance productive investments, stimulate economic growth and improve Nigerians’ living standards.

However, the Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO) of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has separately rejected the borrowing proposal, accusing President Bola Tinubu of accumulating debts without commensurate development or a credible repayment plan and urging the National Assembly to withhold approval.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, who defended the borrowing plan after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the proposed financing should be assessed against the infrastructure and economic assets it would create rather than merely as an addition to the country’s debt burden.

Oyedele, who spoke with State House correspondents after the meeting presided over by Tinubu, also disclosed that the administration was targeting single-digit inflation by the end of 2027 or earlier.

His defence followed Atiku’s demand for full disclosure of the projects, contractors, financing terms and repayment obligations attached to the proposed loans, as well as earlier concerns raised by Obi over Nigeria’s mounting debt-servicing burden.

“This is investment, not borrowing,” Oyedele said, maintaining that the government intended to channel the funds into projects capable of strengthening national productivity and generating long-term economic value.

The proposed financing comprises $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion for projects and programmes covering transportation, security, healthcare, agriculture, energy, digital infrastructure, education and social protection.

Transportation infrastructure accounts for approximately $10.6 billion, including the Sokoto-Badagry and Lagos-Calabar highways and the Kano-Kaduna rail project.

Oyedele said the government was pursuing financing from multilateral and bilateral development partners, alongside other sources, with emphasis on favourable terms that would minimise borrowing costs and improve debt sustainability.

He disclosed that approximately $7.9 billion was expected from multilateral and bilateral partners, including the World Bank, adding that a $5 billion World Bank component would attract concessional financing at an average interest rate of about 2.1 per cent.

Some social-sector facilities, he said, would carry interest rates of around two per cent.

The minister maintained that the government was prioritising financing arrangements that would enable the projects to deliver lasting economic benefits while keeping repayment obligations manageable.

Atiku, however, urged the National Assembly to withhold approval until the government published comprehensive details of the proposed facilities, insisting that Nigerians deserved to know how the money would be spent and the obligations the country would incur.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council, the former vice president said the request reinforced his earlier concerns about plans to secure loans of up to $20 billion.

“The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation.”

Atiku argued that identifying broad sectors was insufficient to justify borrowing on such a scale, insisting that Nigerians needed project-specific information to assess the proposed expenditure and its implications.

He also questioned the reported inland rerouting of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, alleging that the project could provide a channel for directing borrowed funds to political campaigners and favoured contractors.

He demanded assurances that the facilities would serve development needs, questioning the timing of the request ahead of the 2027 general elections and calling for legislative scrutiny of the supporting documents.

In a separate reaction, the Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation rejected the proposed loans, accusing Tinubu of mortgaging Nigeria’s sovereignty and the future of coming generations through what it described as an unsustainable appetite for foreign borrowing.

In a statement by its Director of Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediwa, the campaign organisation alleged that successive borrowing had failed to produce corresponding improvements in infrastructure, electricity supply, healthcare, education and household welfare.

“The MDPCO vehemently rejects the latest move by President Tinubu to take fresh $20.5bn (N27.52 trillion) and €1.04bn loan (N1.558 trillion) 80 days to a crucial election that will ultimately remove him from office in May, 2027, especially given his inability to present any concrete plan to repay the over N166.7 trillion debt already accumulated under his watch,” the statement said.

The organisation questioned the justification for additional borrowing when, according to it, Nigerians had yet to see adequate returns from previous loans obtained for infrastructure and economic reforms.

“We are deeply concerned that these loans are repeatedly justified under the omnibus of funding infrastructure, critical projects and budget deficits, yet Nigerians cannot point to commensurate projects or has this successive borrowing been able to adequately fund Tinubu’s three overlapping budget cycles, raising the question as to where monies have gone,” it stated.

Describing the country’s debt situation as increasingly alarming, MDPCO accused the administration of accumulating domestic and external obligations without sufficient transparency or a convincing repayment strategy.

“This malignant debt cancer and insatiable appetite for foreign loans have reached alarming proportions that every well-meaning Nigerian should fear for the nation’s future as Tinubu’s government relentlessly accumulates domestic and external debts with neither commensurate development, transparent utilisation nor a credible repayment plan.

“Nigerians will recall our earlier warning that the nation’s public debt, which has soared to N166.7 trillion under President Tinubu, is mortgaging the future of over 240 million Nigerians, particularly the youth, who risk an unbearable debt burden they neither incurred nor deserve. His new request has reinforced our fear that President Tinubu is burying Nigeria by instalment,” the campaign organisation stated.

MDPCO proceeded to question several previous borrowing arrangements, citing a $750 million World Bank facility for power-sector recovery in June 2023, a $500 million facility for institutional strengthening and women’s empowerment, and additional financing for conditional cash transfers.

It asked why electricity supply remained unreliable despite previous interventions, questioning the results of loans obtained for women’s empowerment, economic stabilisation and social protection.

“In June 2023, President Tinubu secured a $750 million World Bank loan under the Power Sector Recovery Performance programme to improve electricity supply nationwide. Ironically, Nigerians continue to endure crippling darkness, to the extent that the Aso Rock Villa is powered by a solar plant.” “That same month, another $500 million was borrowed for institutional strengthening and women’s empowerment. Where is the money, how many women have benefited, and where is the impact? In July 2023, the President secured another $800 million for Conditional Cash Transfers, followed by a further $700 million in September.”

The campaign organisation also cited $2.25 billion in economic stabilisation financing in 2024, $1.57 billion for healthcare, education and human capital development in 2025, and another $500 million from the African Development Bank.

It recalled that the Senate approved a borrowing plan involving $21.19 billion, €4 billion and ¥15 billion in 2025, including $3 billion reportedly earmarked for the Eastern Railway Corridor linking Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.

MDPCO further questioned the impact of the $6 billion approved in April 2026 for port modernisation and another $1.5 billion for early-childhood development and household prosperity, arguing that millions of Nigerians continued to struggle with high living costs and inadequate social services.

The organisation warned that excessive dependence on external financing could undermine national economic independence, drawing a comparison with Egypt under Khedive Isma’il between 1863 and 1880, whose foreign borrowing and expenditure contributed to a financial crisis and foreign intervention.

It consequently urged the Federal Government to abandon the fresh loan request and called on the National Assembly to reject it.

The campaign organisation also presented Makinde’s Reset Nigeria Agenda as its alternative economic programme, saying it would prioritise the effective utilisation of national resources, economic self-sufficiency and sustainable development.

Obi, in a separate statement published on his official X account in May, had expressed concern over Nigeria’s projected $11.6 billion debt-servicing bill for 2026, warning that growing repayment obligations could constrain spending on essential services.

The former Anambra State governor argued that borrowing should translate into measurable improvements in education, healthcare, infrastructure, innovation and job creation rather than leave the country with mounting obligations and limited resources for development.

His earlier comments addressed Nigeria’s broader debt profile and servicing obligations rather than the specific loan request now before the National Assembly.

On the administration’s economic performance, Oyedele said the government had recorded improvements in several macroeconomic indicators and was determined to translate the gains into tangible benefits for households and businesses.

He disclosed that headline inflation had declined to 14.63 per cent in September, compared with 20.98 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year and a previous peak of about 34 per cent.

According to him, FEC had resolved to intensify measures to ease price pressures, particularly the cost of food, while sustaining investments in infrastructure, human capital development and employment generation.

The minister said Nigeria’s foreign reserves had risen above $55 billion, which he described as their highest level in 18 years, while net reserves had increased to more than $45 billion from less than $1 billion three years ago.

He put second-quarter economic growth at 4.43 per cent, maintaining that the administration was working to translate improvements in economic indicators into stronger investment, employment and household incomes.

Oyedele said the tax-to-GDP ratio had risen from about seven per cent in 2023 to 12.5 per cent by the end of 2025, while the debt-service-to-revenue ratio had declined from 97 per cent to below 60 per cent.

He also defended the removal of petrol subsidy, arguing that the previous arrangement imposed an unsustainable burden on public finances and restricted the government’s capacity to provide infrastructure and essential services.

According to him, repeated adjustments to petrol prices over the years had failed to address the underlying subsidy problem, making its removal necessary to correct the structural imbalance.

The minister said the administration had introduced interventions to cushion the effects of its reforms, particularly on vulnerable households, students and small businesses.

He disclosed that more than 10 million households had received over ₦600 billion in cash transfers, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund had disbursed ₦372.6 billion to more than 1.5 million students.

More than 800,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, he added, had benefited from subsidised loans at single-digit interest rates.

Oyedele also highlighted tax reliefs for low-income earners and small businesses under the administration’s tax reforms, saying the measures were intended to reduce financial pressure and support economic activity.

He said the Nigerian capital market had grown from about ₦30 trillion to more than ₦160 trillion, expressing optimism about the naira’s outlook on the strength of improved foreign reserves and other economic fundamentals.

The minister maintained that the administration would continue to monitor the effects of its policies and make adjustments where necessary, with the objective of translating economic recovery and public investment into improved living conditions for Nigerians.

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