Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central, has criticised the Federal Government’s borrowing coverage, saying Nigeria is over-borrowing whereas Nigerians bear the brunt of the nation’s rising debt profile.
Umeh stated the federal government had poorly managed the nation’s sources, questioning the affect of repeated borrowing on the residing circumstances of residents.
“We are over-borrowing in simple terms. Whether you do a GDP borrowing ratio and all that, the important thing is how are we faring in the circumstance as a country? Citizens are groaning, we are suffering. Even the rich also cry now in Nigeria,” he stated.
The senator spoke on Politics Today, a present affairs programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday, whereas reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s request to the National Assembly to approve a contemporary exterior borrowing plan.
LEADERSHIP studies that Tinubu had requested the National Assembly to approve the processing of exterior loans value $20.5 billion ($20,517,755,901) and €1.045 billion (€1,045,083,643) beneath the 2026–2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan.
The proposed loans are anticipated to finance crucial tasks throughout numerous sectors, together with infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, schooling, water provide, safety and employment technology, in addition to monetary administration reforms.
The president’s request was conveyed in a letter learn by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, throughout plenary on Tuesday.
In the letter, Tinubu stated the proposed borrowing was essential to help his administration’s reform agenda.
However, Umeh questioned the effectiveness of the federal government’s borrowing technique, arguing that borrowing ought to translate into tangible enhancements within the lives of Nigerians.
According to him, the continued hardship skilled by residents means that authorities insurance policies and interventions usually are not producing the specified outcomes.
“If we are doing something, we are experimenting with something and it’s not improving the quality of life of the citizens, it means that what they are doing is not responding,” he stated.
He likened the scenario to the therapy of a affected person whose situation fails to enhance, arguing that such a scenario signifies that the therapy is ineffective.
“The treatment you are giving to a patient that is not getting better shows that it’s not responsive,” he added.
The lawmaker additionally questioned the federal government’s fiscal accountability, alleging that public sources had been poorly managed regardless of successive borrowing initiatives.
“So what they are doing is that I believe the resources of the country have been poorly managed and the fiscal responsibility on the part of government is questionable,” Umeh stated.
He argued that the justification for borrowing must be measured by the advantages the funds ship to the financial system and the individuals.
“If you are borrowing money to deliver some ends, those ends, when delivered, will improve the quality of life in the system. So it’s not about borrowing,” he stated.
Umeh additional expressed concern about Nigeria’s mounting debt burden, stressing the necessity for accountability over how borrowed funds had been spent.
“People have 166 trillion naira in debt, it’s not 166,000 naira. And if you have borrowed it, where have you put the money?” he queried.
The senator stated the federal government ought to prioritise insurance policies and tasks able to easing the financial pressures confronting Nigerians moderately than persevering with to build up debt with out clear enhancements in residing requirements.
He additionally questioned why the nation had continued to wrestle with home petroleum provide and rising gas prices regardless of years of borrowing.
“I have been talking about government doing things that will help relieve the country from the cliffhanger the country has been passing through,” he stated.
Umeh challenged the federal government to contemplate the quantity borrowed through the years in opposition to the sources required to handle crucial financial challenges, together with home petroleum refining.
“If you can borrow 21 billion dollars, 22 billion dollars, 20 billion dollars, how much will you need to build a refinery? This is the question. All these monies have been borrowed in the past,” he stated.
He famous that rising petroleum product costs continued to put stress on Nigerians, arguing that authorities interventions ought to produce measurable aid.
“Today, the issue of petroleum products rising is hanging on the neck of Nigerian people,” he stated.
Umeh warned that borrowing and not using a corresponding enchancment within the welfare of residents would quantity to an ineffective response to the nation’s financial challenges.
“So if you are doing anything and it is not reducing the pain in the system, then it means that the sickness has become malignant,” he added.
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