Excess borrowing: Tinubu has lost control of Nigeria’s economy — Atiku

African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, says President Bola Tinubu has lost control of Nigeria’s finances following the latest revelation that the Federal Government exceeded its 2024 borrowing limit by N4.79 trillion, pushing fresh borrowing to N12.62 trillion.

Atiku spoke in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

The former Vice President stated that Nigerians were promised that the painful removal of fuel subsidy, repeated tax hikes and other harsh economic measures would reduce borrowing and restore fiscal stability, stressing that instead, the country is witnessing the exact opposite, including endless borrowing, ballooning debt and unprecedented waste.

The Budget Office has said that the Federal Government borrowed 61.2 per cent above what was approved by the National Assembly.

“President Tinubu has lost control of the nation’s economy. Worse still, an additional N3.19 trillion classified as “budget support” was obtained despite no such provision existing in the approved budget, with no clear disclosure of its source.

“This is not an isolated incident. It fits into a disturbing pattern that has become the defining signature of the Tinubu administration: duplication, opacity and reckless fiscal management.

“This is the same government that has been caught creating fake agencies, padding budgets with duplicated allocations, hiding trillions under the mysterious Service Wide Vote, allocating obscene sums for luxury SUVs while critical sectors gasp for survival, and now borrowing far beyond the limits approved by law.

“What exactly is all this borrowing funding? Certainly not education, where children continue to learn under deplorable conditions. Certainly not healthcare, where hospitals remain underfunded. Certainly not security, where innocent Nigerians are massacred while security agencies complain of inadequate funding. Certainly not infrastructure, because the roads remain death traps and electricity has become an expensive luxury.

“The tragedy is that Nigerians are being forced to service debts whose benefits they cannot see. Even more troubling is the contradiction that defines this administration. Only days ago, it emerged that high crude oil prices have handed the Federal Government an estimated N7.98 trillion oil windfall, yet instead of reducing borrowing, the government has continued to pile debt upon debt. A government earning windfalls while borrowing recklessly is not suffering from lack of revenue; it is suffering from lack of discipline,” Atiku said.

He added that the development is not economic reform but fiscal vandalism, adding that no responsible government mortgages the future of unborn generations while simultaneously presiding over duplicated budgets, wasteful expenditures, opaque financial practices and an ever-expanding bureaucracy.