Tobias Sylvester
The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu has justified Nigeria’s rising debt profile, saying President Muhammadu Buhari “can borrow from here to eternity”.
Adamu Justify Rising Debt
The APC chairman, who spoke on a programme on Trust Television on Monday, insisted that there was nothing wrong with borrowing to execute projects across the country.
According to him, Buhari needs to borrow to keep Nigeria running because countries like the US and the UK also borrow funds from international financial institutions to meet their needs.
He said, “I remember a programme we had here, I told you and I thought you believed me that I have no quarrel, issues with government borrowing. Government can borrow from here to eternity. The American government borrows, the Canadian government borrows, the United Kingdom borrows, France borrows money from the World Bank and such other institutions.
“Nigeria is no exception, what I quarrel with is if the money is not used for a purpose and the infrastructure we are developing across the country is from this source.
“You also have to appreciate the fact of the level of revenue accruing to the government, oil is the main thing… We want to see how best we can diversify. These issues affecting the revenue accruing to the government are not our making no matter how good we are, they happen.
“When some countries sneeze we catch a cold. The Ukrainian crisis with Russia is having an impact on our economy and even in bigger economies than our own so why do we limit ourselves in our thinking.”
Adamu said some senators in the APC are supporting the impeachment bid against Buhari because they did not win tickets to contest in the 2023 polls.
“When this was going on it was part of the heat of those who didn’t get what they wanted and they now capitalize on the pressure of the opposition to be hard.
“It was an opposition drive, they (those who lost tickets) supported it and they put the blame on the party and government,‘ he said.
KanyiDaily recalls that a former senator representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani said that Buhari would have staged a protest on the streets if former President Goodluck Jonathan had piled up debts like his administration.
