The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the National
Assembly to probe the borrowing spree of President Muhammadu Buhari’s
government.
PDP said the National Assembly should probe the terms of the borrowing and the handling of the funds.
In a statement issued yesterday by its spokesperson, Kola
Ologbondiyan, the opposition party also urged the National Assembly to
restrict the Buhari’s administration from further borrowing foreign
loans.
The party lamented that despite the huge borrowing spree, there was no meaning infrastructure to match the huge funds.
The statement reads: “PDP queries the All Progressives Congress
(APC)-led Federal Government and the Buhari Presidency over alleged
unwholesome borrowings leading to the escalation of the nation debt
stock from N12.12 trillion in 2015 to an overburdening N24.38 trillion
in 2018.
“It is saddening and devastating that President Muhammadu
Buhari’s administration, in its manifest incompetence and lack of
initiative to stimulate and run a productive economy, relies on heavy
borrowings and unbearable tax regimes, which have crippled
productivity, caused untold hardship and mortgaged the economic future
of our nation.
“Since President Buhari assumed office in 2015, there has been a
culture of unexplained borrowings leading to a steep rise in the debt
stock from N17.5 trillion in 2016 to N21.72 trillion in 2017 and a huge
N24.387 trillion in 2018.
“It is shocking and completely insupportable that our nation’s
debt had risen from N21.72 trillion in December 2017 to N24.387 trillion
in December 2018, showing an accumulation of a whopping N2.66 trillion
in a space of one year.
“President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration therefore has a
huge explanation to make to Nigerians for its borrowing spree,
especially as it cannot point to any meaningful development project into
which the borrowed funds were invested.
“This is particularly against the backdrop of allegations in
the public space that the borrowed funds, which were taken as
development funds, were diverted to 2019 general elections campaign
activities of the APC, a huge part of which ended in private pockets of
corrupt APC leaders.
“This is in addition to direct frittering of public funds
through the alleged N1.4 trillion sleazy oil subsidy regime, the looted
N9 trillion detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, the alleged N33 billion
fraud in the handling of funds meant for the welfare of Internally
Displaced Persons
(IDPs) in the North East, among other sleazes.
“We urge the National Assembly to commence a system-wide
investigation into the borrowings by the Buhari administration,
particularly the terms of the borrowing and the handling of the funds.
“The National Assembly should also save the future of our
nation by restricting the Buhari administration from taking further
loans on behalf of our country until explanations are provided on the
terms and handling of the borrowed funds.
“Nigerians cannot afford to continue to bear burden of an
incompetent and insensitive administration and that is why they eagerly
await the retrieval of our stolen mandate at the Presidential election
petition tribunal.”