Arise TV Anchor, Oseni Rufai, shared on his X handle that the Tinubu administration’s borrowing in a single year has surpassed Buhari’s borrowing over eight years.
During Tinubu’s tenure, Nigeria’s debt surged by an astonishing ₦24 trillion in just three months, escalating the total debt to a staggering ₦121 trillion. This steep rise, attributed to the naira’s depreciation, is viewed as an economic disaster stemming from Tinubu’s decision to float the currency.
The naira plummeted from around ₦800 to nearly ₦2,000 to a dollar, devastating the economy and saddling the nation with unsustainable debt levels. Rufai criticized the justification that the debt increase is due to naira depreciation and high exchange rates, labeling it a feeble excuse. He stressed that this depreciation results directly from the president’s flawed policies, not external factors.
Rufai asserted, “Those who claim the government didn’t take on much debt must remember that bonds are debt. We raised bond debt of over ₦20 trillion in months. This government is borrowing excessively. Currency differential isn’t the only issue, over ₦20 trillion was also borrowed in the bond market.”
He added, “I don’t have issues with borrowing if it’s used properly, but we borrow and have nothing to show for it. We use it frivolously. We spent ₦1 trillion on coastal roads while other roads are pending. Data from the Debt Management Office showed that Nigeria’s total debt stock rose by ₦24.33 trillion in the first quarter of 2023 to ₦121.67 trillion from ₦97.34 trillion as of December 2022.”
Rufai also noted, “The Federal Government borrowed ₦20.1 trillion from domestic investors in the first year of President Tinubu’s administration, representing a year-on-year increase of 117 percent from the previous year.
This has sparked concerns over the impact on the economy, including potential additional pressure on inflation, increased debt service cost, and higher borrowing costs for businesses.
Analysts noted that the sharp rise in Federal Government’s borrowing could exacerbate the already high inflation in the country, potentially leading to further interest rate hikes by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and, consequently, increased borrowing costs for businesses and individuals.”
