…… Buhari has insatiable appetite for loans, we’ll soon borrow from Togo – PDP.
….. Opposition party disturbed we’re succeeding where it failed, says APC.
The People’s Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress on Wednesday criticised each other over the Federal Government’s 2021 proposed N6.17tn loans.
The PDP’s spokesman, Kola Ologbodiyan, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu (retd.), had an insatiable appetite for loans and may soon borrow loan from small countries like Togo.
In his response, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, told The PUNCH on the telephone that the PDP was confused.
But the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria called for caution, saying the National Assembly should ensure due diligence before approving loans for the Federal Government.
Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, while defending the 2021 budget proposals at the sitting of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans on Tuesday, said Nigeria’s public debt would hit N38tn by December 2021.
She disclosed that the total public debt stock comprising external and domestic debts of states and the Federal Government as well as the Federal Capital Territory stood at N31.01tn ( $85.90bn) as of June 30, 2020.
According to her, it will rise to N32.51tn by December 2020 and N38.68tn by December 31, 2021.This means Nigeria will borrow N6.17tn in 2021.
Also on Tuesday, the minister said the Federal Government would borrow $2.1bn from Brazil to finance agriculture.
Commenting on the Federal Government’s plan to raise Nigeria’s debt profile by N6.17tn in 2021, the PDP berated the President.
The opposition party’s spokesman, Ologbodiyan, advised the National Assembly not to be Buhari’s rubber stamp.
The PDP spokesman said, “It ( the plan to get more loans) is the height of insensitivity. The Buhari regime’s insatiable appetite for loans is unequalled in our national history.
“Nigerians have yet to recover from the news of the mortgaging of our sovereignty to the Chinese in exchange for loans, now, we are looking for loans from Brazil.
“At the rate this regime is going, we may soon be borrowing money from Togo. What has the Buhari regime done with all the money it has borrowed since 2015? The other day, they told Nigerians they want to borrow money to construct railway lines to Niger Republic.
“We expect the National Assembly to demand that the regime account for all the loans it has collected in the name of this country since 2015 before entertaining any such request.
“We also expect the National Assembly leadership to look beyond partisan politics and consider the future of this country in taking decisions. Acting as a rubber stamp to the executive in such matters, is certainly not in Nigeria’s best interest,” the party said.
Reacting, the APC said the PDP was worried that the APC had within just five years succeeded in areas where successive PDP administrations failed in 16 years.
The APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary said, “The PDP is simply confused that we are succeeding where it failed. The PDP governments collected all sorts of loans with nothing to show.
“But since 2015, all of the loans this government has collected there is evidence for all to see. Is it the loans for rail lines ? What about our ongoing road projects across all the six-geopolitical zones?
“The PDP should go and settle their quarrels and see whether they can build a party. Right now, we don’t have an opposition.”
Culled: The Punch.
