“It’s Criminal, Foolish To Keep Borrowing And Accumulating Debt” – Obasanjo Tells Buhari

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has frowned at the way President Muhammadu Buhari is taking loans to fund recurrent expenditure.

KanyiDaily recalls that President Buhari had recently asked the Nigerian Senate to approve $4,054,476,863 and €710 million external loans despite public outcry over incessant borrowing by the current administration.

Data from the Debt Management Office showed that at the end of March 2021, Nigeria’s public debt hit a total of N33.12tn, which means in the last six years under Buhari, the country’s debt rose by N21tn.

As of the end of June 2015, one month after Buhari came into power, the country’s debt profile stood at N12.12tn. It means that the country’s debt profile has risen by 173.27 per cent within the six-year period.

Obasanjo Slams Continuous Borrowing By Buhari Govt

Speaking during an interview on Channel Television in South Africa, Obasanjo said that borrowing and accumulating debt for the next generations to come is criminal and foolish.

Obasanjo said that if the existing debt remains unserviced or unpaid by the current administration, it might become a huge problem for successive governments.

“If you want to build a commercial house and you go and borrow money, and you have 50 per cent of your own money and you borrow 50 per cent and in five years, you pay the 50 per cent that you borrowed. That is a wise thing to do. But if you have to go and borrow money for you to be able to feed yourself and your family, that is a stupid thing to do.

“So, if we are borrowing for recurrent expenditure, it is the height of foolery. If we are borrowing for development that can pay itself, that is understandable; then how long will it pay itself? But we are borrowing and accumulating debt for the next generation and the next generation after them, it is criminal, to put it mildly. What are we borrowing for?

“When I came into government and was elected President, we were spending $3.5bn to service debt, and even with that, our quantum of debt was not going down,” Obasanjo.

KanyiDaily recalls that Governor Obaseki had publicly expressed concerns about the country’s rising public debts, alleging that due to dwindling revenue, the FG was forced to print billions of Naira to augment allocations received by states.