The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of operating a “Ponzi economy”, where new loans are constantly being taken to service old debts and cover fiscal failures, while ordinary Nigerians are left to carry the burden.
A statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the opposition party was deeply alarmed by the Tinubu administration’s latest move to seek another fresh $1.25 billion World Bank loan.
Mr Tinubu’s request to borrow $1.25 billion comes barely weeks after the House of Representatives approved his request to secure a $516.3 million external loan for the construction of sections of the Sokoto–Badagry superhighway.
“At this point, Nigerians must ask a simple question: if this government keeps borrowing trillions of naira every few months, why are Nigerians getting poorer, and why is life getting harder for the majority?” the statement said.
Borrowing without relief
Today, the party said Nigeria’s total public debt has risen to about N159.28 trillion, yet food prices continue to rise daily, electricity tariffs are increasing, the naira remains weak, businesses are shutting down, insecurity is spreading, and millions of young Nigerians remain unemployed.
“Families are cutting down on meals, manufacturers are struggling to survive, and small businesses are collapsing under the weight of inflation and poor economic conditions.
“This is why the ADC says the Tinubu administration is running a Ponzi economy, where new loans are constantly being taken to service old debts and cover fiscal failures, while ordinary Nigerians are left to carry the burden,” the statement added.
According to the party, Mr Tinubu himself has declared that Nigeria will spend about $11.6 billion, over N15 trillion, on debt servicing alone in 2026.
In simple terms, the party said trillions of naira that should have gone into roads, hospitals, schools, electricity, security, agriculture, and job creation will instead go into paying creditors and servicing old loans.
The ADC said that more disturbing is the speed and scale of the borrowing.
“Since assuming office in May 2023, the Tinubu administration has pursued or secured multiple World Bank facilities and external loans running into several billions of dollars.
“Each time they want to borrow money, this government invents a new acronym. From ARMOR to RESET, HOPE, or SPIN, these are merely different labels for the same pretext to continue borrowing without any recourse to measurable impacts on the lives of Nigerians,” it added.
The party said the government removed fuel subsidy, devalued the Naira, increased electricity tariffs, and imposed painful economic policies on citizens, promising that temporary sacrifice would lead to long-term recovery.
It explained that some of the loans are ostensibly obtained to cushion the impacts of these harsh policies.
Instead, the party said Nigerians have continued to suffer one of the worst cost-of-living crises in recent history, while the government continues to pile on more debts.
“A serious government borrows to build industries, stabilise power, create jobs, expand exports, improve transportation, and grow the economy in ways that citizens can actually feel. But after all this borrowing, Nigerians cannot point to any measurable improvement in their daily lives that matches the scale of the debt being accumulated in their name.”
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The ADC said it is concerned that the National Assembly, which should serve as checks on executive excesses, has been reduced to a mere rubber stamp, approving massive borrowing requests with little resistance or serious public scrutiny, even as debt servicing continues to consume an increasingly unsustainable portion of government revenue.
“Nigeria cannot continue mortgaging the future of unborn generations simply to keep the present administration politically afloat. At some point, somebody will pay for all this borrowing, and sadly, ordinary Nigerians are already paying through hunger, inflation, unemployment, business closures, and a collapsing standard of living.
“What Nigeria needs right now is the ADC’s leadership, which is focused on production, security, industrialisation, agriculture, stable electricity, support for local businesses, and real job creation,” the statement said.
