The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has characterised the loans taken by President Bola Tinubu as burdensome for Nigerians, warning that they will place unbearable strain on the economy.

The former Vice President, in a statement on Thursday, said, “These Tinubu’s loans are bone-crushing to Nigerians and bringing insufferable pressure on the economy, especially when they are not properly negotiated and utilised.”

The Senate, on Thursday, approved President Tinubu’s request to secure a $2.2bn external loan.

The approval came 48 hours after the Senate received the President’s request for the $2.2bn loan, equivalent to N1.767tn.

The approval followed the presentation of a report by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Aliyu Wamakko (APC, Sokoto North), during Thursday’s plenary.

Tinubu had explained that the loan was integral to his administration’s fiscal strategy for the coming year in a letter read during Tuesday’s Senate and House of Representatives plenaries.

“The Presidential request for $2.2bn, equivalent to N1.77tn, is already enshrined in the external borrowing plan for the 2024 fiscal year,” the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had stated while reading the letter.

He directed the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts to expedite its review of the request and present a report within 24 hours.

Although the deadline elapsed on Wednesday, the committee submitted its findings during Thursday’s plenary, leading to the loan’s approval.

Senator Wammako said the presidential request was necessary for approval while presenting the committee’s report titled:

“Implementation of New External Borrowing of N1, 767, 610, 321, 779.00 equivalent to $2.209bn in the 2024 Appropriation Act through the issuance of Eurobonds and other sources.”

He said, “It will contribute to the implementation of the Debt Management Strategy, which seeks to reduce the cost of borrowing, lengthen the maturity of the public debt stock, free up space in the domestic market for other borrowers, and help increase Nigeria’s External Reserves.”

He added that Nigeria could raise all or part of the New External Borrowing of $2.21bn through the issuance of Eurobonds in the International Capital Market.

The Senate, after the presentation of the report, expeditiously approved it at the Committee of Supply without any dissenting voice.

In his remarks after the approval, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, who presided over the session, commended the Wammako-led committee for a job well done.

But Atiku, reacting in a statement, expressed concern that Nigeria was sinking deeper into debt, with the National Assembly once again acting as an accomplice.

The ex-VP stated, “The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association, is very concerning.

“This report is coming just when the government has already sent a proposal to the National Assembly signalling an intention to borrow an additional N1.7tn being a shortfall in the 2024 budget through Euro Bonds.

“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD.

“Nigeria is sinking further in debt, and the National Assembly has become an accomplice once more. Tinubu had, in July this year, boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch have collected all-time high revenues to finance the Budget.

Why then are they still borrowing? There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”

Waziri Adamawa emphasised that it was time for Nigeria to exercise more caution and apply careful calculations to the ongoing loan spree.

He said, “It is concerning that the voracious appetite for these humongous loans is powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs.

“A report by Budgit, a budget watchdog, has disclosed that the 2024 Budget is a mess because of the level of pork associated with it.

“I feel a sense of personal agony seeing that just a few years after the administration of President Obasanjo took our country out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum.”