President Muhammadu Buhari
Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio political group is bothered by the country’s ever rising debt profile which it noted is not reflecting in the welfare of the people and is therefore advising the Federal Government to exercise caution.
The advice was contained in a recent release issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, citing several instances of loans being borrowed by President Muhammadu Buhari- led administration and expressing dismay over the disclosure by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Debt Management Office (DMO) that as much as 74 per cent of the country’s earnings go into debt servicing.
Records show that as of September 2021, Nigeria’s public debt was N38.005 trillion and has not stopped rising.
The pan-Yoruba group, while recalling Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan’s earlier vow that the National Assembly would continue to approve loan requests made by President Buhari, submitted that the quantum of debts incurred by this administration did not reflect in the quantity and quality of infrastructural developments in the country.
According to Afenifere, neither does the quantum of loans so obtained reflect in the living standard of Nigerians, saying it a matter of fact “looks as if the more Nigeria is sinking into the debt dungeon, the more the standard of living goes down.”
“It is apparent that the more money Nigeria earns along with monies being obtained in form of loans and grants, the more the welfare of Nigerians suffer,” the group noted.
