Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party in 2023, has expressed concerns over federal government’s excessive borrowings.
He wrote: “I remain concerned about our borrowings, considering their galloping situation over the years, and its concomitant effects on the economy. More worrisome is the fact that there has been no corresponding visible usage or investments as required by the law, to show their impact on the nation.
“Even more worrisome is that between the end of the third quarter, Q3, and the end of the fourth quarter, Q4, of 2023, about N10 trillion was added to our debt profile, which has now taken our debts to N97.3 trillion, again, without any corresponding visible and verifiable utilization of such debts, to the and best of my knowledge, is the highest ever borrowed in one quarter.
“The implication is that what we borrowed in a quarter about N10 trillion and what we spend on debt servicing, which is also about N10 trillion, are each more than the combined budgetary allocation for the four highest priority areas, which are; defence , Education , Health , and Infrastructure .