Atiku Tells Senate To Reject Tinubu’s $20.52BN Loan Bid, Tells Lawmakers To Insist On Details

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has urged the Senate to reject President Bola Tinubu’s request for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion, insisting lawmakers should demand full particulars earlier than any approval.

Atiku stated the President’s request vindicates his October 12 warning a couple of mortgage plan of as much as $20 billion.

In a press release issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku stated the President’s failure to establish the particular initiatives the loans would fund raises critical considerations that borrowed public cash might be channelled by means of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, now rerouted inland, to political campaigners and favoured contractors.

“On October 12, I warned Nigerians that President Tinubu was reportedly preparing to borrow up to $20 billion in connection with the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway. I asked him to confirm or deny the plan and publish the accounts. He did neither. Today, he has asked the Senate to approve $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion in external loans. My warning has been vindicated,” Atiku stated.

“The President has listed broad sectors but has not provided a project-by-project account of what this enormous borrowing will fund. Nigerians have not been given clear project details, costs, locations or contractors to scrutinise.”

“That silence is especially troubling given the highway’s inland rerouting. Nigerians have every right to ask whether it is becoming a pipeline for borrowed money to reach Tinubu’s campaigners and favoured contractors. Barely 12 weeks before an election, how can the President ask lawmakers to saddle Nigerians with more than $20 billion and €1 billion in debt without identifying the projects and their costs? Is this a development plan for Nigerians or a campaign financing scheme dressed up as infrastructure?”

*Vows To Probe All Tinubu’s Loans*

Atiku vowed that if elected, he would probe all loans taken beneath the Tinubu administration.

“You cannot continue taking frivolous loans on the eve of your departure from office. Let it be on record that one of the first responsibilities I will undertake as President is to scrutinise and investigate every kobo borrowed, especially loans taken in the final year of your tenure. Nigerians will ask questions, and we will find the answers by every lawful means,” he stated.

“I put local and international lenders on notice: any loan granted to this winding down administration must meet all constitutional, statutory and due process requirements. Upon assumption of office, I will scrutinise every such loan. Any borrowing found to have been obtained without proper authorisation or process will be challenged and will not be allowed to stand.”

He urged the National Assembly to not approve a single greenback till the President publishes each venture, contract, price, contractor, mortgage time period and reimbursement obligation.

“No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future,” Atiku stated.

He stated the burden was on Tinubu to show that the borrowing would serve the nation, not his political pursuits. He urged lawmakers to publish the proposal and supporting paperwork and topic them to rigorous scrutiny earlier than any choice.

He added that households already scuffling with a cost-of-living disaster shouldn’t be made to hold money owed they didn’t approve.

“The woman fighting to keep her business alive and the worker spending their income just to feed deserve to know where the money is going, who will benefit and who will pay. At the ballot box, Nigerians will have the chance to reject a government that borrows against their future while taking their sacrifices for granted,” Atiku stated.