In a formal submission, President Tinubu is seeking legislative approval for external loans amounting to $21.5 billion, €2.19 billion, ¥15 billion, and a €65 million grant to fund various government projects.
The Youth Arise Movement (YAM) has condemned the Nigerian government’s persistent reliance on external loans, following President Bola Tinubu’s latest request to the National Assembly for approval of a fresh multi-currency loan package.
In a formal submission, President Tinubu is seeking legislative approval for external loans amounting to $21.5 billion, €2.19 billion, ¥15 billion, and a €65 million grant to fund various government projects.
However, YAM has described the move as reckless and unsustainable, warning that continued borrowing threatens Nigeria’s economic future and sovereignty.
The movement stated that "there is no gainsaying the fact that the mindless borrowing by the present administration calls for concern. There is a need for caution before this country is led into financial doldrums. Nigeria is presently sitting on a ticking time bomb, which could explode at any moment without warning."
In a statement released by the Convener of Youth Arise Movement, Comrade Ademola Babatunde, he said, "One cannot but wonder why the present administration, which claimed to have recovered humongous sums of money and assets, would quickly return to borrowing."
Ademola said it was time for the National Assembly to rise to the occasion by refusing to approve the President’s loan request. At this critical time, the country needs a vibrant, pragmatic, responsive, responsible, and dedicated National Assembly to save it from a slippery slope.
He also noted that the Federal Government is seeking the National Assembly's approval to issue government bonds in the domestic market to the tune of ₦757 billion to settle accumulated pension arrears.
The statement read, "Coincidentally, on the same day the President sent the request to the National Assembly, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, disclosed that looted funds totaling $967.5 Billion and N277 Billion have been recovered in cash and assets by the anti-graft agencies. He added that the said recoveries were made in the year 2024 alone.
"The Attorney-General also added that the recovered funds were invested in conditional cash transfers and partly to fund critical infrastructure development.
"If the approval sought by the President is granted by the National Assembly, Nigeria’s total debt will rise to over N180 Trillion naira. Economic experts have warned about the rising debt profile of the country and the dire consequences on the economy."
According to Ademola, "A vibrant National Assembly should launch an investigation into the matter and call the Federal Government to account for the recovered looted funds, cross check the revenue accrued, review the books of the Federal Government with respect to the disbursement and administration of monies appropriated by the National Assembly in line with Section 88(1)(a)(ii) and (2)(b) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
"There is very serious need to hold our leaders accountable on how they are spending the state resources. In the light of the above, I humbly call for the establishment of ‘The Presidential Delivery unit’ that will be bestowed with the responsibility to brief the country on the revenue of the Government, recovered looted funds, the deployment and administration of the same to curtail looting and embezzlement.
"Nigerians are yearning for clarity on how government revenues are being deployed and the projects the monies are spent on. It should also be the responsibility of the said Unit to publish in the national dailies the said expenditures so that Nigerians would be enlightened and informed."
He explained that the amount of monies said to have been recovered by the anti-graft agencies in the year 2024 alone far exceed the amount the government is seeking approval to borrow.
"The monies claimed to have been utilised by the Federal Government for developmental project ought to be visible for the masses. Sadly, our roads are death-traps, our hospitals are in comatose, our education is in intensive care grasping for breath, insecurity is worsening, our youths are unemployed yet our debt keeps rising astronomically.
"We do not need a soothsayer to tell us that something fundamental is wrong with the system. We therefore cannot continue on this trajectory. For the sake of our children yet unborn, drastic, deliberate, bold and urgent steps must be taken to arrest the rising debt profile before it boomerangs on our faces."
The movement called on the National Assembly to halt the President’s request for external loan approval, launch an independent investigation into the recovered looted funds and assets, and confirm the exact level of the pension liability and how the same could be paid from the recovered looted funds and assets.
"Finally the National Assembly as the representatives of the people, should ensure that funds approved and disbursed for developmental projects are utilised for the precise purpose and not embezzled. It is time to rise in unison to say no to further mindless borrowing," Ademola added.