Again, Tinubu Goes A Borrowing
With penchant for ignoring the voices of the people, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu again, sends a proposal to the National Assembly to borrow another $20.5 billion and €1.05 billion to purportedly fund infrastructure projects, which many Nigerians say have little or no impact on the well-being of ordinary citizens
By Edu Abade
Nigeria’s public soars above ₦166.79 trillion by June 2026, up from roughly ₦49.85 trillion to ₦75 trillion when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration took over on May 29, 2023, but as electioneering campaigns intensify towards the January 16, 2027 general elections, the president has again, submitted a request for fresh loans of $20.5 billion [an equivalent of N28.7 trillion] and another €1.05 billion or N1.608 trillion to the National Assembly for approval.
In President Tinubu’s document to the National Assembly, he said the loans would be used to finance critical projects across various sectors, including infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, education, water supply, security and employment generation, as well as financial management reforms under the 2026/2027 Supplementary External Borrowing Plan.
In the letter read by Akpabio, during plenary on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, the president said the proposed borrowing was necessary to support his administration’s reform agenda, adding that the projects had been selected based on technical and economic evaluations and their expected contributions to the country’s socioeconomic development.
“I want to emphasize that the projects and programmes included in the Borrowing Plan were selected based on thorough technical and economic evaluation, as well as their anticipated contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country,” he said, maintaining that the projects would also promote employment, skills acquisition and entrepreneurship, reduce poverty and improve food security, thereby improving the livelihoods of Nigerian children.
Insisting that most of the projects and programmes would be implemented across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, he added, “These initiatives aim to generate employment, promote skills acquisition, foster entrepreneurship, reduce poverty and enhance food security, all of which improve the livelihood of the Nigerian child. In light of the need for significant infrastructure investment in the country and the vast financial resources needed to address this gap, it has become essential to pursue broader external borrowings to close the financing shortfall.”
But what worries Nigerians most is that in spite of the economic hardship and suffering in the land, the president’s men in the National Assembly, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudden Abbas, will definitely approve the request for the umpteenth time, since according to them, the president always meant well for the country.
Among those punctured the President’s requests for fresh loans are former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, as well as representative of Anambra Central Senatorial District, Senator Victor Umeh. While Atiku urged the National Assembly to suspend consideration of President Tinubu’s request for approval to obtain $20.52bn and €1.045bn in external loans until the Federal Government publishes details of the projects to be financed, Umeh wondered what the loans would be used for.
Atiku said the borrowing proposal vindicated his earlier warning that the administration was preparing to secure loans of up to $20bn in connection with the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and expressed concern that the absence of project-by-project details, including costs, locations and contractors, could expose the proposed borrowing to abuse and political manipulation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president called on lawmakers to demand full disclosure of the proposed loans and their intended uses before granting approval.
“The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation,” Atiku said, stressing, “No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future.”
Tentacle recalled that Atiku had on October 12, 2026, raised concerns over reports that the President was preparing to borrow up to $20bn in connection with the coastal highway, saying Tinubu neither confirmed or denied the allegation nor published the accounts he had requested.
Insisting that the subsequent request for approval to borrow $20.52bn and €1.045bn reinforced his concerns about the administration’s borrowing plans., he said, “The president has listed broad sectors but has not provided a project-by-project account of what this enormous borrowing will fund. Nigerians have not been given clear project details, costs, locations or contractors to scrutinize.”
He linked his concerns to the reported inland rerouting of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, alleging that the project could become a channel through which borrowed funds reach political campaigners and favoured contractors.
He further cautioned that any borrowing undertaken without the required constitutional, statutory and due-process requirements would face scrutiny if he assumed office, adding, “I put local and international lenders on notice: any loan granted to this winding-down administration must meet all constitutional, statutory and due-process requirements.
“Upon assumption of office, I will scrutinize every such loan. Any borrowing found to have been obtained without proper authorization or process will be challenged and will not be allowed to stand.”
On his part, Umeh questioned how the Federal Government has spent funds from previous borrowings, asking why budgetary obligations remain unmet despite repeated approvals for loans.
Umeh spoke on Tuesday while reacting to President Tinubu’s request to the National Assembly for approval to borrow an additional $20.5 billion and €1.45 billion, arguing that previous borrowing requests were justified on the grounds that the funds would finance government budgets, yet contractors were still owed for capital projects.
“The truth is that we have approved so much funds to be borrowed in the past, and on each occasion we’ve been told that this borrowing would be able to fund the budgets and these budgets have remained unfunded up till this day,” Umeh said, noting that three budgets were running concurrently, while the government had yet to meet its obligations to contractors handling capital projects.
Speaking further, he said, “Three budgets are running concurrently and the government is not meeting its obligations to contractors on capital projects and so on and so forth. So if you borrow to finance a budget and you are not able to finance that budget, where has the money gone to? That is the question in the lips of everybody.”
Umeh also maintained that with Akpabio as President of the Senate and Abbas Speaker of the House, the latest loan request would most likely receive speedy legislative approval, arguing that opposition lawmakers would be outvoted by members of the ruling party.
