The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has raised questions over Federal Government’s “unwholesome” borrowings amounting to N24.38 trillion debts, from 2015 debt stock of N12.12 trillion.
Revelations on the government’s current debt profile were contained in a report released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) last week, prompting the PDP to call on the National Assembly to investigate how the monies were spent.
In a statement Monday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party blamed the Buhari administration for what it described as saddening and devastating debt overhang on the nation.
According to the PDP, the rising debt profile was a product of the government’s manifest incompetence and lack of initiative to stimulate and run a productive economy.
It blamed the administration for its reliance on heavy borrowings and unbearable tax regimes, which the party said have crippled productivity, caused untold hardship and mortgaged the economic future of the nation.
The PDP said there has 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 2017, rising to N24.387 trillion in 2018.
The PDP said, “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 All Progressives Congress (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”.
The party called on the National Assembly to commence a system-wide investigation into the borrowings by the administration, particularly the terms of the borrowing and the handling of the funds.
It charged the federal legislature to save the future of the nation by restricting the Buhari administration from taking further loans on behalf of the country until explanations are provided on the terms and handling of the borrowed funds.
“Nigerians cannot afford to continue to bear the 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 statement added.
No comments:
Post a Comment