President Buhari’s Loans: Nigeria Is Now On The Auction Market – PDP

BY GRACE ANYANWU, ABUJA – The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday said that the nation and her people have been placed on the international auction market by President Muhammadu Buhari  and his All Progressives Congress over the volume of foreign loans being accumulated by the administration.

The party said President Buhari’s moves to take a fresh $5.513 billion (N2.1 trillion) loan in addition to an earlier $22.79 billion (N8.5trillion), the size of 2020 budget, without operable repayment plans, will totally compromise the fiscal integrity of the nation and open her up for economic annexation by foreign creditors, adding that this is in addition to N850 billion from the capital market. 

The PDP in a statement by its Natipnal Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan noted that it is more alarming that the Buhari government, in this fiscal year, cannot muster the capacity to harness the huge resources available in the nation’s country to generate even half of the sum of its own budget, but has been going cap in hands to shop for foreign loans.

It also expressed fears that with this situation, the APC administration is practically driving the nation to the brinks while exposing Nigerians to the risk of modern day slavery by mortgaging their future to economic appropriation by foreign interests.

According to the PDP; “Already the situation has created apprehensions, anxiety and trepidation among the citizens, particularly the youths, who are now scared about their future and the survival of our nation under the APC. 

“It is even more distressing that this administration cannot account for the loans it has taken so far. In spite of the deluge of loans, the lives of the ordinary Nigerians, on whose behalf they claim to be amassing these debts, have become worse than the APC and Buhari met them in 2015.

“Painfully, even the savings made by previous administrations have been opened up for pillaging by APC leaders and the cabal in the Buhari Presidency,” it stressed.

The PDP therefore called on Nigerians to look beyond primordial differences and unite in speaking against the accumulation of debts, saying that it is no longer about political party affiliations, creed, ethnicity, class or age. It further said; “We all must unite in one voice to save our nation from an imminent collapse.” 

The PDP said that it holds that rather than mortgaging the nation to foreign interests, President Buhari should immediately cut the size of his government, slash its over bloated budget, clip its luxuries, curb unbridled corruption in his administration and make haste to recover the N14 trillion that was stolen by APC leaders under his watch. 

The party further said; “If the N14 trillion stashed away by APC leaders and the cabal is recovered, our nation will not be in need of these humongous foreign loans.” 

The PDP also urged the National Assembly to stand on the side of the people and save the nation by immediately using its legislative instrument to check the unbridled appetite for foreign loans.