Former Governor of Anambra State, and 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi has berated the culture of borrowing in Nigeria without corresponding impact on the lives of the citizens.
Mr Obi who stated this in a statement posted on his X handle on Tuesday, said the country is accumulating very exponential levels of unsustainable debt with little or nothing to show for it in critical areas such as education, healthcare, electricity generation, security of lives and property, and pulling people out of poverty.
He said with an already existing public debt of about N149.39 trillion as at the first quarter of 2025, adding the recently approved loans of about N37.2 trillion) would bring the nation’s total debt to about N187 trillion with concerns that the debt might likely be over N200 trillion by the end of 2025.
Obi said the nation’s GDP before rebasing was about N269.2 trillion (about $180 billion), however, the government has borrowed the equivalent of nearly 70% of the previous GDP. Noting that even after the rebasing, which pushed the nation’s GDP to about N372.8 trillion (about $243. 7billion), the government would have borrowed about 50.16 % of the new GDP (with the approved loans), the highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the history of Nigeria.
The Businessman cum Politician noted that the country still ranks low in all major human development indicators.
“While education is underfunded and standard in continuous decline, healthcare remains inaccessible to millions of Nigerians particularly the poor.
“Security of lives and property has deteriorated with over 10,217 people killed and 672 villages sacked between May 29th 2023, and May 29th 2025, even when security spending has significantly increased from N2.98 trillion in 2023 to N4.91 trillion in 2025.
“Infrastructure decay persists across the country, with about 135,000km of our 195,000km of roads remaining unpaved, largely unmotorable, and unusable.
“It is the same depressing situation in almost all sectors of the economy, with the power sector an unquestionable example, with less than 5,000 MW supplied for over 200 million Nigerians,” he said.
Obi stated that over two years after the present government took over and with all the humongous borrowing, the country is still confronted with negative reports of worsening poverty with about 133 million (63%) Nigerians classified as multi-dimensionally poor, increasing unemployment and disheartening news like 652 children dead as the malnutrition crisis worsens in Northern Nigeria.
“Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has just sounded the alarm over an escalating malnutrition crisis in Northern Nigeria, with Katsina State emerging as one of the worst-hit areas.
“This is a country blessed with enormous resources, yet nobody should go to bed hungry. Still, a persistent deficiency in leadership has thrown the majority of our citizens into increasing multidimensional poverty,” he said.
While stating that borrowing is not inherently bad if it is sustainable and tied to productive investments with measurable outcomes, Obi submitted that the current pattern of borrowing without accountability, without transparency, and without transformational impact is simply mortgaging the future of the Nigerian children.
“The government should consider the inter-generational consequences of their unsustainable borrowings and show at least a minimum consideration and interest in the future of young and unborn Nigerians.
“We must return to a disciplined and prudent economic management culture, cutting the cost of governance, blocking leakages, investing in human capital, and building a productive economy.
“Nigeria cannot continue to borrow recklessly while poverty deepens and public trust erodes. It is time to stop this fiscal indiscipline.
“We must build a New Nigeria, where leadership is responsible, development is people-centred, and every kobo borrowed or spent delivers a measurable impact to achieve sustainable and inclusive development and growth,” Obi said.
Meanwhile, the Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan, and Social Media Influencer, Reno Omokri, said Obi’s statement was filled with lies, innuendos, and half-truths.
Omokri said Mr. Obi’s post shows that he is economically illiterate and does not have sufficient knowledge of how the economy works.
He said the Senate of the National Assembly did not approve “an additional $21 billion, €2.2 billion, ¥15 billion of external borrowing for the 2025–2026 fiscal cycle”.
“What the Senate approved is a Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). President Bola Tinubu is not about to borrow $21 billion, €2.2 billion, ¥15 billion. That is a figment of the intellectually undeveloped mind of Peter.
“The MTEF contains the borrowing plan for both the Federal and State Governments for the next three years. In other words, the $21 billion is what the Federal Government and the 36 states can borrow over the next three years—not what they will borrow, but what they can borrow. They are not even likely to take those loans. It is just a framework for what is possible.
“For example, while the MTEF provides for extensive borrowings in 2025, only $1.23 billion will actually be borrowed. And that $1.23 billion will be borrowed by both the Federal and state governments from all geopolitical zones.
“The MTEF only shows possible borrowing that Nigeria is entitled to based on agreements with our external borrowing partners, which must align with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 and the Debt Management Office. (Establishment) Act 2003.
“The Borrowing Rolling Plan ties possible borrowings by the Federal and State Governments to specific projects. For actual borrowings, Nigerians should look at the budgets of both the Federal and State Governments,” he said.
