President Muhammadu Buhari’s government in Nigeria has come under heavy attack from civil rights groups over the N2.2tn domestic debt in the last one year. Debt Management Office (DMO) had put the Federal Government’s domestic debt at N10.6tn as of June 2016, up from N8.4tn a year ago as Nigeria’s total debt liability rose to N16.29tn in June 2016 from N12.12tn in June 2015. For Abuja Social Action which through Vivian Bellonwu-Okafor said that the only response of the administration to the economic recession was “to borrow more money.” Bellonwu-Okafor stated: “The Fiscal Responsibility Act, which outlines the democratic steps that should accompany any loan, is not being respected and so in this regard, loans are taken in a most shoddy and blanket manner without any clear purpose or project line tied to such acquisition(s) as well as cost-benefit analysis, as stipulated by the FRA. “It is thus not surprising that government has not only taken but also advanced loans for recurrent items such as payment of salaries, sponsorship to foreign trips and conferences etc; this is in clear violation of the FRA which states that loans shall only be acquired for capital expenditure(s).” “Debt servicing will soon completely wipe out the country’s capital allocation. This free walk into another debt-trap should, with all experiences of hindsight, be avoided. President of Campaign for Democracy (CD), Abdul Usman, said that the borrowing did not show desirable performances by the administration. He stated: “Nigerians have never had it this bad and are losing faith in the change promised by the administration. There is hunger almost everywhere in the land. Citizens will want to see published documents or Mr. President should address the nation as we have yet to see the positivity on the budgeted N500bn social welfare.” The Executive Secretary of the Anti-Corruption Network, Ebenezer Oyetakin, stated: “The thrust of the change is expected to be largely in the way we handle the economy. The craze for borrowing simply shows how uncreative we are and the lack of innovative thinking economically. “What would have happened if we were Republic of Cuba that was and is still under total economic, commercial and financial blockade by the USA and its allies for 55 years? What will happen if the entire world refuses to lend us money? I am against our craze for borrowing as a nation.” But the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who spoke with Punch newspaper, justified the increase in the debts. “I guess it would have been used to fund the budget and whatever government is spending money on,” she simply said.
.Naij
