Atiku urges Senate to reject Tinubu’s $7.7bn loan request

File: Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the Senate to reject President Bola Tinubu’s latest $7.7bn external borrowing request, warning that the proposed loan would further burden Nigerians and future administrations.

Atiku, in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, described the frequency of the Federal Government’s borrowing requests as alarming.

The proposed $7.7bn loan, estimated at ₦10.79tn, is expected to part-finance the 2026 budget deficit.

The opposition politician’s reaction came barely days after another external borrowing proposal of $20.52bn and €1.045bn was presented to the National Assembly for approval.

Questioning the government’s borrowing strategy, Atiku said Nigerians should not be expected to treat the successive requests as routine legislative business.

“What is the problem with this government? Why is President Tinubu making borrowing requests on behalf of Nigeria week in, week out?

“Every new foreign loan is a bill Nigerians will eventually have to pay. This government cannot keep presenting borrowing as a substitute for sound economic management while families and businesses carry the cost of its failures,” he said.

The ADC presidential candidate called on the Senate to subject the latest proposal to rigorous scrutiny, insisting that the government must provide details of the projects to be financed, their respective costs, the interest rates, repayment schedules and other conditions attached to the facility.

He also questioned the provision in the President’s letter indicating that the final borrowing terms would depend on prevailing market conditions when the loan was priced.

“Nigerians should not be asked to accept a loan before they know what it will cost the country,” he added.

The ADC chieftain urged lawmakers to demand a comprehensive project list, clear funding allocations and a credible repayment plan before considering the request.

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“No government should receive a blank cheque to contract foreign debt in the name of budget implementation,” he added.

Atiku further called on international lenders and agencies to suspend fresh lending to the Tinubu administration until it provides transparent loan terms, a credible repayment plan and evidence of the benefits of previous borrowings.

He accused the President of presiding over a worsening cost-of-living crisis despite the removal of petrol subsidy and the government’s continued access to foreign loans.

“Tinubu removed subsidy on petroleum products but has emerged as the highest borrowing government in Nigeria’s record history,” he noted.

Atiku also faulted the administration over what he described as inadequate infrastructure investment and the absence of effective social welfare interventions, arguing that Nigerians were struggling to afford basic necessities while the country’s debt continued to rise.

He, however, said his proposed alternative would include the restoration of social welfare programmes through what he described as a production-based subsidy on petroleum products.

The former vice president maintained that Nigeria could not continue to borrow its way out of every budget deficit, urging the National Assembly to prioritise the interests of citizens in its consideration of the loan request.

“The National Assembly must remember that it is accountable to Nigerians, not merely to the executive.

“Before approving another trillion-naira burden, it must make the government answer the questions Nigerians are asking,” he stressed.

The latest controversy comes amid sustained debate over Nigeria’s rising public debt, the cost of servicing existing obligations and the government’s reliance on borrowing to finance infrastructure and budgetary commitments.

While the Federal Government has repeatedly defended borrowing as necessary to fund development and bridge revenue gaps, opposition figures have called for greater transparency and accountability in the management of public debt.