• President cites infrastructure deficit, financial progress, safety, agriculture, healthcare, training as priorities
•Requests NASS approval for N269.4bn promissory notes to clear FG’s money owed
• Atiku alleges proposed borrowing might function marketing campaign slush fund, calls for project-by-project disclosure
•ADC PCC says president mortgaging Nigeria’s future, warns of financial recolonisation
• Senate refers supplementary borrowing plan to debt committee, provides one week to report
Chuks Okocha, Sunday Aborisade and Juliet Akoje in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu yesterday requested the National Assembly to approve a supplementary exterior borrowing plan of $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion to finance tasks and programmes throughout important sectors of the economic system, a transfer that has drawn criticism from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council (ADC-PCC).
While the President mentioned the proposed services would handle Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit, speed up financial progress, generate employment and enhance the dwelling situations of Nigerians, Atiku alleged that the borrowing request vindicated his earlier warning a few mortgage plan of as much as $20 billion and raised issues about the doable use of public funds for political functions.
The ADC-PCC, in a separate response, condemned the proposed borrowing, describing it as reckless, warning that extreme dependence on international loans may mortgage Nigeria’s future and set the stage for financial recolonisation.
The controversy comes as President Tinubu has additionally sought the National Assembly’s approval for the institution and enlargement of the federal authorities’s Promissory Note Programme to settle excellent verified liabilities amounting to N269.44 billon.
Tinubu Seeks Approval for $20.5bn, €1.04bn External Loans
Tinubu, in a letter learn by Senate President Godswill Akpabio at plenary yesterday, urged the National Assembly to approve the supplementary exterior borrowing plan for 2026–2027 to allow the federal authorities to implement its tasks and programmes directly.
He mentioned the proposed borrowing plan coated infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, training, water provide, safety, employment era and monetary administration reforms, amongst different sectors.
Tinubu mentioned, “The 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan cuts across all sectors, with specific emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth, security and employment generation, as well as financial management reforms, amongst others.”
Explaining the rationale for the request, the President mentioned the have to maintain financial progress following the implementation of his administration’s reforms had made extra exterior financing essential.
“In light of the critical reforms of my administration, the need to accelerate growth of the national economy provides support for the External Borrowing Plan, which amounts to $20,517,755,901 and €1,045,083,643,” he mentioned.
He added that the tasks and programmes coated by the plan had undergone technical and financial assessments to determine their potential contributions to nationwide growth.
“I want to emphasise that the projects and programmes included in the Borrowing Plan were selected based on thorough technical and economic evaluation, as well as their anticipated contribution to the socio-economic development of the country,” Tinubu mentioned.
According to him, the proposed interventions are anticipated to stimulate financial actions, create jobs, promote abilities acquisition, encourage entrepreneurship, scale back poverty and strengthen meals safety.
“These initiatives aim to generate employment, promote skills acquisition, foster entrepreneurship, reduce poverty and enhance food security, all of which improve the livelihood of the Nigerian child,” he mentioned.
The President disclosed that almost all of the tasks and programmes could be carried out throughout the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, underscoring the nationwide scope of the proposed investments.
“The majority of these projects and programmes will be implemented across all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory,” he mentioned.
Tinubu added that the scale of Nigeria’s infrastructure wants and the monetary sources required to deal with them had made broader exterior borrowing essential to bridge the funding hole.
“In light of the need for significant infrastructure investment in the country and the vast financial resources needed to address this gap, it has become essential to pursue broader external borrowings to close the financing shortfall,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the funds could be channeled primarily into important infrastructure, notably energy, transportation and healthcare, whereas different sectors would additionally profit from the proposed financing association.
“These funds will primarily be directed towards critical infrastructure projects in various sectors, including power, transportation and healthcare, amongst others,” the President mentioned.
Tinubu urged the Senate and the House of Representatives to offer the proposal pressing consideration, arguing that immediate approval would facilitate well timed disbursement and efficient implementation of the tasks.
The President mentioned, “Given the pressing nature of those wants and the significance of stabilising the nation, it’s essential to hunt the consideration and approval of the National Assembly management and the whole National Assembly for the 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan.
“This will enable the government to fulfil its obligations to the Nigerian people through timely disbursements and effective project implementation.”
He maintained that the proposed financing would help the implementation of growth programmes and assist handle the nation’s infrastructure funding shortfall.
The letter, nevertheless, didn’t present, in the materials offered to the Senate, a project-by-project breakdown of the proposed services, the particular person financing phrases or the allocation of the funds amongst the beneficiary sectors.
The proposed borrowing plan comes as the federal authorities seeks extra sources to finance infrastructure and growth programmes amid competing calls for on public funds. Its implementation will depend upon the National Assembly’s consideration of the proposal and the particulars of the tasks to be financed underneath the plan.
Following the presentation of the letter, Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts for consideration and directed it to report again to the chamber inside one week.
The committee is predicted to undertake the preliminary legislative evaluation of the proposal, with doable collaboration with the Senate Committee on Appropriations and different related committees.
The request would require legislative scrutiny earlier than the proposed exterior financing can proceed.
Tinubu Seeks Approval for N269.4bn Promissory Notes to Clear FG Debts
In a separate legislative request, Tinubu sought the National Assembly’s approval for the institution and enlargement of the federal authorities’s Promissory Note Programme to settle excellent verified liabilities amounting to N269.44 billion.
The request was conveyed in a letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, which was learn throughout plenary at the House of Representatives in Abuja yesterday.
The proposed programme is meant to deal with excellent contractual commitments, project-related money owed and different monetary obligations owed by the Federal Government to numerous classes of collectors.
In the letter dated August 18, 2026, and acquired by the Office of the Speaker on October 21, Akume disclosed that the excellent liabilities totaled N269,446,402,822.56, following a complete evaluation performed by related ministries, departments and businesses of the Federal Government.
He acknowledged that Tinubu had authorised the proposal to determine and broaden the programme as a mechanism for settling the verified obligations.
According to the letter, the initiative is meant to supply “a structured, transparent and fiscally responsible framework” for clearing the excellent money owed whereas guaranteeing that solely claims which were correctly verified and validated are accommodated underneath the association.
The request additionally seeks legislative approval for the inclusion of the recognized classes of liabilities and beneficiaries in the programme, topic to last verification, reconciliation and certification by the applicable authorities businesses.
Tinubu additional requested that the National Assembly empower the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, working with the Debt Management Office and different related businesses, to take the essential steps to implement the programme.
Akume defined that the proposal was designed to scale back the continued accumulation of curiosity, penalties and different monetary fees arising from the unpaid obligations.
He added that the association would supply reduction to affected collectors and reinforce confidence in the federal authorities’s dedication to honouring official contractual agreements and different monetary tasks.
The SGF famous that the Federal Government had beforehand deployed the Promissory Note Programme to settle inherited home money owed and contractual obligations, following approval by the Federal Executive Council and subsequent authorisation by the National Assembly.
He mentioned the proposed association was anticipated to allow the authorities settle the excellent liabilities in an orderly method with out creating a right away and disproportionate demand on its money move.
According to the letter, the programme would additionally enhance fiscal planning by permitting compensation obligations to be unfold over an applicable interval, in keeping with prudent debt administration rules.
Akume appealed to the House of Representatives to offer the request pressing consideration, citing the substantial dimension of the excellent liabilities, the size of time a few of the money owed had remained unpaid and the danger of additional will increase in curiosity and associated prices.
He mentioned immediate legislative approval would permit the Federal Government to start the essential procedures for issuing the promissory notes and bringing the affected liabilities to a detailed.
The detailed schedule of the excellent obligations, containing the related classes, beneficiaries, quantities and supporting paperwork, was additionally forwarded to the National Assembly for consideration.
Atiku Says Loan Request Vindicates His Warning
Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate, Atiku, mentioned Tinubu’s request for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion vindicates his October 12 warning a few mortgage plan of as much as $20 billion.
Atiku mentioned the President’s failure to establish the particular tasks the loans would fund raises critical issues that borrowed public cash could possibly be channeled by the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, now rerouted inland, to political campaigners and favoured contractors.
In a press release issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku was quoted to have mentioned: “On October 12, I warned Nigerians that President Tinubu was reportedly getting ready to borrow as much as $20 billion in reference to the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway. I requested him to verify or deny the plan and publish the accounts.
“He did neither. Today, he has requested the Senate to approve $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion in exterior loans. My warning has been vindicated.
“The President has listed broad sectors however has not supplied a project-by-project account of what this monumental borrowing will fund. Nigerians haven’t been given clear undertaking particulars, prices, places or contractors to scrutinise.
“That silence is particularly troubling given the freeway’s inland rerouting. Nigerians have each proper to ask whether or not it’s turning into a pipeline for borrowed cash to succeed in Tinubu’s campaigners and favoured contractors.
“Barely 12 weeks earlier than an election, how can the President ask lawmakers to saddle Nigerians with greater than $20 billion and €1 billion in debt with out figuring out the tasks and their prices? Is this a growth plan for Nigerians or a marketing campaign financing scheme dressed up as infrastructure?
“You can not proceed taking frivolous loans on the eve of your departure from workplace. Let or not it’s on document that considered one of the first tasks I’ll undertake as President is to scrutinise and examine each kobo borrowed, particularly loans taken in the last yr of your tenure. Nigerians will ask questions, and we are going to discover the solutions by each lawful means.
“I put native and worldwide lenders on discover: any mortgage granted to this winding down administration should meet all constitutional, statutory and due course of necessities. Upon assumption of workplace, I’ll scrutinise each such mortgage. Any borrowing discovered to have been obtained with out correct authorisation or course of can be challenged and won’t be allowed to face.
“The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation. No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future.”
Atiku mentioned the burden was on Tinubu to show that the borrowing would serve the nation, not his political pursuits. He urged lawmakers to publish the proposal and supporting paperwork and topic them to rigorous scrutiny earlier than any resolution.
He added that households already scuffling with a cost-of-living disaster shouldn’t be made to hold money owed they didn’t approve.
“The woman fighting to keep her business alive and the worker spending their income just to feed deserve to know where the money is going, who will benefit and who will pay,” he mentioned.
Atiku additional mentioned that Nigerians would have the alternative at the poll field to reject a authorities that borrows towards their future whereas taking their sacrifices as a right.
ADC-PCC Warns of Economic Recolonisation
The ADC-PCC additionally condemned Tinubu’s request to the National Assembly for approval to borrow an extra $20 billion and £1 billion, describing the transfer as reckless, unconscionable and a harmful step in direction of Nigeria’s financial recolonisation.
In a press release by the Director of Media and Publicity of the ADC-PCC, Kola Ologbondiyan, the council expressed concern that the administration continued to pursue aggressive borrowing with out offering Nigerians with a clear and convincing account of how earlier loans and financial savings from subsidy removing had been utilised.
The ADC-PCC mentioned the contemporary borrowing request got here at a time when Nigerians have been nonetheless scuffling with the devastating penalties of the administration’s financial insurance policies, together with hovering dwelling prices, elevated taxation and the removing of gasoline subsidies, with thousands and thousands of residents going through worsening financial hardship.
Ologbondiyan mentioned it was alarming that the Tinubu administration was in search of extra international loans regardless of the monumental financial burden already imposed on Nigerians.
“What exactly is President Tinubu borrowing all this money for?” he requested.
He additional queried: “Where are the roads, the electrical energy, the hospitals, the jobs and the important infrastructure that ought to justify this relentless accumulation of debt? Nigerians deserve solutions.
“Where is the money saved from fuel subsidy removal? What happened to the previous loans? And why must the government return to the international credit market with another $20 billion and £1 billion when millions of Nigerians are struggling to survive?”
Ologbondiyan mentioned the growth raised critical questions on the administration’s fiscal priorities, financial route and dedication to accountability.
According to him, “This will not be a sustainable path to nationwide growth. It is a harmful try to mortgage the way forward for Nigeria and generations but unborn. A rustic can not proceed to build up international debt and not using a clear, measurable and clear account of the advantages accruing to its residents.
“President Tinubu cannot continue to impose painful economic sacrifices on Nigerians, claim the benefits of subsidy removal and, at the same time, seek enormous additional loans without adequately explaining how the resources already available to his government have been spent.”
The ADC-PCC argued that an financial technique constructed totally on borrowing and elevated taxation, with out corresponding enhancements in productiveness, infrastructure, employment and residents’ welfare, risked pushing the nation deeper right into a debt entice.
It warned that extreme dependence on international collectors may expose Nigeria to mounting debt-servicing obligations, constrain future governments’ coverage selections and undermine the nation’s financial sovereignty.
The council additional noticed that the administration should reveal how the proposed borrowing would contribute to productive funding, financial progress and improved dwelling requirements slightly than impose extra liabilities on future generations.
“The sovereignty of Nigeria must not be compromised by fiscal recklessness. Our national assets, economic independence and the welfare of future generations must not become casualties of an endless borrowing spree,” Ologbondiyan mentioned.
The ADC-PCC due to this fact known as on the National Assembly to topic the proposed borrowing to rigorous scrutiny and reject it until the Federal Government supplied compelling proof of its necessity, sustainability and tangible advantages to the Nigerian individuals.
It additionally demanded that Tinubu publish a complete account of all home and international borrowing undertaken since May 29, 2023, alongside an in depth breakdown of the income realised from subsidy removing and the way the funds had been utilized.
The council additional known as for full disclosure of the proposed loans’ functions, rates of interest, compensation durations, related charges, conditionalities and any collateral or ensures hooked up to the services.
It insisted that Nigerians had a constitutional and democratic proper to know the obligations being incurred of their title and the implications for the nation’s fiscal future.
“Nigeria can not borrow its approach out of poor financial administration. Borrowing have to be tied to obviously outlined nationwide priorities, clear expenditure and measurable outcomes. Anything much less is an injustice to the Nigerian individuals.
“The National Assembly should not abdicate its oversight tasks. It should insist on accountability and be certain that no borrowing association locations the nation’s future at unacceptable danger.
“Nigerians must not be compelled to pay indefinitely for loans whose purposes, terms and benefits remain unclear. Our country must not mortgage its future through opaque and unsustainable borrowing,” the ADC-PCC acknowledged.
