The Nigerian Presidency has responded forcefully to criticisms raised by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent request to the National Assembly seeking approval for a series of foreign loan proposals.
Atiku had cautioned against the proposed borrowings, arguing they posed significant long-term dangers to the nation’s economic stability and future generations.
In a memorandum submitted to the legislature, President Tinubu requested approval for external borrowing exceeding $24 billion. Atiku expressed deep concerns over the implications of such a move, warning that it could exacerbate Nigeria’s already fragile debt situation.
He noted that the proposed loan sum constitutes over 60 percent of the country’s total foreign exchange reserves, and would increase the public debt stock from an already staggering N144.7 trillion to an even more burdensome N183 trillion.
Calling the move “immoral and unsustainable,” the former Vice President argued that the Tinubu administration was borrowing not for critical development purposes, but merely to service existing debts.
According to him, this would deepen a debt spiral that leaves little room for much-needed investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and employment generation. He urged both the National Assembly and civil society organisations to resist the proposed borrowing plan in the interest of national sustainability.
However, in a swift and pointed rebuttal, the Presidency, through Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, dismissed Atiku’s comments as “vitriolic, unfair, and driven more by animosity than by objective analysis.”
Onanuga criticised Atiku for what he described as partisan rhetoric, accusing him of deliberately overlooking the significant economic and institutional reforms implemented by the Tinubu administration. He emphasized that these reforms, while bold and potentially painful in the short term, were crucial for long-term economic sustainability.
“Unless former Vice President Atiku allowed personal grievances to cloud his judgment,” Onanuga stated, “he should, in good conscience, acknowledge the significant progress and positive achievements made by this administration.”
According to Onanuga, President Tinubu has shown commendable leadership in confronting longstanding economic challenges that previous administrations—including the one in which Atiku served as Vice President—failed to address decisively.
Chief among the administration’s reforms are the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market—policy measures that had long been identified as essential but were consistently deferred by prior governments.
“In fact,” Onanuga added, “Atiku himself included these same reforms in his campaign manifesto. Yet, it is President Tinubu, the democratically elected leader in 2023, who has had the courage to implement them.”
The Presidency maintained that the loan proposals are part of a broader economic strategy aimed at stabilizing the economy, restoring investor confidence, and laying the groundwork for sustainable growth.
Onanuga called for more informed and less politically motivated dialogue on national economic issues, urging Nigerians to support the government’s reform agenda rather than undermining it through partisan attacks.