The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the National Assembly to probe the increasing borrowing by the APC-led government which allegedly has led to a national debt of N24.38 trillion.
In a statement on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP argued that the debt profile in 2015 was N12.12 trillion but later rose to N24.38 trillion because of alleged APC government’s incompetence and lack of initiative to stimulate and run a productive economy.
The PDP said that the current government relied on heavy borrowings and unbearable tax regimes, which allegedly crippled productivity, caused untold hardship and mortgaged the economic future of the nation.
The party specifically urged the National Assembly to commence a system-wide investigation into the borrowings by the Buhari administration, particularly the terms of the borrowing and the handling of the funds.
The leading opposition party also demanded that the National Assembly restrict the Buhari administration from taking further loans on behalf of the country until explanations were provided on the terms and handling of the borrowed funds.
“Since President Buhari assumed office in 2015, there have been a culture of unexplained borrowings leading to a steep rise in the debt stock from N17.5 trillion in 2016 to N21.72 trillion in 2017 and a huge N24.387 trillion in 2018.
“It is shocking and completely insupportable that our nation’s debt had risen from N21.72 trillion in December 2017, to N24.387 trillion in December 2018, showing an accumulation of a whopping N2.66 trillion in a space of one year.
“President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration therefore has a huge explanation to make to Nigerians for its borrowing spree, especially as it cannot point to any meaningful development project into which the borrowed funds were invested.
“This is particularly against the backdrop of allegations in the public space that the borrowed funds, which were taken as development funds, were diverted to 2019 general elections campaign activities of the APC, a huge part of which ended in private pockets of corrupt APC leaders.
“This is in addition to direct frittering of public funds through the alleged N1.4 trillion sleazy oil subsidy regime, the looted N9 trillion detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, the alleged N33 billion fraud in the handling of funds meant for the welfare of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East, among other sleazes.
“Nigerians cannot afford to continue to bear burden of an incompetent and insensitive administration and that is why they eagerly await the retrieval of our stolen mandate at the Presidential election petition tribunal,” the party said.
