Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the approval of $4.5 billion by the National Economic Council (NEC) for the refinancing of an oil-backed loan contracted by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Atiku described the move as further proof that the President Bola Tinubu administration had mortgaged Nigeria’s future to sustain its reckless fiscal habits.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said every new oil-backed obligation pushed Nigeria deeper into a vicious cycle where tomorrow’s wealth was sacrificed to finance today’s policy failures.
He recalled that only a few days ago, the presidency issued a statement in response to his revelation of an unexplained N17 trillion crude oil windfall, claiming that Nigeria is unable to fully benefit from soaring international crude oil prices because future crude earnings have already been committed to oil-backed foreign loans.
Atiku stated, “That explanation should have embarrassed any responsible government. Instead, this administration has chosen to double down on the very scandal it sought to justify by approving yet another $4.5 billion refinancing. Rather than breaking free from the chains of oil-backed indebtedness, it is tightening them.
“What kind of government inherits a nation blessed with abundant oil resources, removes fuel subsidy, imposes multiple taxes, records unprecedented crude oil windfalls, borrows aggressively at home, and still finds it necessary to refinance billions of dollars secured against the country’s future oil production?”
Atiku alleged, “This administration has turned Nigeria into a nation permanently living on credit. Instead of using increased revenues to reduce debt and build fiscal resilience, it continues to mortgage the future of generations yet unborn.
“The tragedy is not merely the refinancing itself. The tragedy is that Nigerians have been subjected to untold hardship in the name of economic reforms, yet the borrowing never stops. The pain is permanent, but the promised gains remain invisible.
“When reforms look like eating away the future to finance today’s consumption, no one can be in doubt that what we have is profligacy without moral restraint.”
The statement said, “President Tinubu promised renewed hope. What Nigerians have received is renewed debt, renewed hardship and renewed uncertainty. Under his watch, debt has become policy, borrowing has become governance, and mortgaging the future has become the defining philosophy of his administration.
“Tinubu has become the weapon fashioned against Nigeria’s economy. Nigeria deserves leadership that preserves national assets, not one that continually pledges them to finance an endless cycle of waste, opacity and fiscal irresponsibility.”
Atiku called on the Tinubu administration to immediately publish the full details of the refinancing arrangement, including its terms, repayment obligations, and the volume of crude oil committed under the deal. He said Nigerians deserved transparency, accountability, and a government that protected—not mortgaged—the country’s future.