ADC Says Tinubu’s $1.25bn Loan Request Meant To Pay Debt

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Bola Tinubu administration of borrowing to pay debts and throwing Nigeria into a bottomless pit of debt burden.

The party was reacting to the Federal Government’s decision to seek a fresh $1.25bn loan from the World Bank amid Nigeria’s growing debt profile estimated at N159.28 trillion.

In a statement on Thursday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC reiterated its earlier position that the government was running a “ponzi economy”
while Nigerians grappled with worsening economic hardship.

The opposition party expressed concern that despite repeated borrowing by the Federal Government, citizens were becoming poorer and living conditions more difficult.

“At this point, Nigerians must ask a simple question: if this government keeps borrowing trillions of naira every few months, why are Nigerians getting poorer, and why is life getting harder for the majority?” the party said.

The ADC noted that Nigeria’s public debt had climbed to about N159.28 trillion, while food prices, electricity tariffs, and inflation continued to rise.

“Families are cutting down on meals, manufacturers are struggling to survive, and small businesses are collapsing under the weight of inflation and poor economic conditions.”

It added: “This is why the ADC says the Tinubu administration is running a Ponzi economy, where new loans are constantly being taken to service old debts and cover fiscal failures, while ordinary Nigerians are left to carry the burden.”

The party also referenced comments credited to President Tinubu that Nigeria would spend about $11.6 billion, estimated at over N15 trillion on debt servicing in 2026.

“In simple terms, trillions of naira that should have gone into roads, hospitals, schools, electricity, security, agriculture, and job creation will instead go into paying creditors and servicing old loans,” the ADC stated.

The party criticised what it described as the “speed and scale” of borrowing since the Tinubu administration assumed office in May 2023, alleging that successive loan requests had been packaged under different policy acronyms without measurable impact on citizens.

“Each time they want to borrow money, this government invents a new acronym. From armour, to reset, hope, or spin, these are merely different labels for the same pretext to continue borrowing without any recourse to measurable impacts on the lives of Nigerians,” the statement added.

The ADC further argued that economic reforms such as fuel subsidy removal, Naira devaluation, and electricity tariff hikes had imposed severe hardship on Nigerians without corresponding relief.

“The government removed fuel subsidy, devalued the naira, increased electricity tariffs, and imposed painful economic policies on citizens, promising that temporary sacrifice would lead to long-term recovery,” it said.

The party maintained that borrowing should translate into visible economic improvements, including industrial growth, job creation, improved power supply, and infrastructure development.

“A serious government borrows to build industries, stabilize power, create jobs, expand exports, improve transportation, and grow the economy in ways that citizens can actually feel,” the statement said.

The ADC also accused the National Assembly of failing to effectively scrutinise the executive’s borrowing requests.

“The National Assembly, which should serve as checks on executive excesses, has been reduced to a mere rubber stamp, approving massive borrowing requests with little resistance or serious public scrutiny,” it alleged.

Warning against continued debt accumulation, the opposition party said, “Nigeria cannot continue mortgaging the future of unborn generations simply to keep the present administration politically afloat.”

The ADC said its alternative vision for the country would prioritise “production, security, industrialisation, agriculture, stable electricity, support for local businesses, and real job creation.”