Atiku tackles Tinubu over fresh N3.3trn power debt bond, demands full disclosure

By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC, Atiku Abubakar has described President Bola Tinubu’s plan to raise another bond to settle power sector debts as a display of fiscal recklessness, institutional dishonesty, and contempt for public accountability.

The former vice president, in a statement on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said Nigerians have every right to be outraged by what he called a recurring cycle of borrowing, deception, and non-disclosure under the Tinubu administration.

He said no government acting in good faith can repeatedly raise funds to solve the same problem while refusing to account for previous funds raised for the very same purpose.

According to him, on December 20, 2025, the Federal Government announced the issuance of a ₦590 billion power sector bond to clear debts owed to generation companies and gas suppliers, with assurances that the intervention would address the liquidity crisis in the sector and restore confidence in the electricity market.

Barely a month later, the government announced that a ₦501 billion bond issued under the same programme had recorded full subscription and would be deployed to settle verified obligations. Then, in April 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved yet another ₦3.3 trillion plan to clear power sector debts, with government officials on each occasion projecting an administration that had finally solved the sector’s perennial problems.

The statement, however, noted that the Association of Power Generation Companies has publicly disclosed that the debts remain largely unpaid, with its Chief Executive Officer, Joy Ogaji, revealing that the ₦501 billion bond raised months ago to settle a negotiated portion of the debt remains unresolved.

The statement added that President Tinubu, in his June 12 Democracy Day address, touted a fresh debt-clearing initiative for the power sector as evidence of his administration’s commitment to reform, even as previous debt-clearing bonds remain shrouded in unanswered questions.

“Democracy is not sustained by grand declarations; it is sustained by accountability. A government cannot celebrate a new solution while refusing to explain the fate of the old one,” the statement read.

Citing an African proverb that a man who repeatedly returns to the marketplace with the same goat he claimed to have sold the previous day invites questions from villagers, the statement said the power sector debt has become that goat, supposedly settled every few months only to reappear at the next press conference demanding fresh billions in public funds.

It also invoked another proverb warning that a man who repeatedly dips his hands into a pot must not complain when people begin to count the spoons, adding that Nigerians are counting and what they are seeing does not add up.

“There is a name for repeatedly collecting money to solve the same problem while the problem remains unsolved. It is called a racket,” the statement said, describing the pattern as a revolving door of debt and opacity that would trigger investigations in any serious country.

The statement lamented that while government officials move from one announcement to another, ordinary Nigerians continue to suffer the consequences of a dysfunctional power sector, with businesses collapsing under crushing energy costs, manufacturers struggling to remain competitive, families spending a significant portion of their income on alternative power sources, and darkness remaining a permanent feature of daily life.

Atiku, therefore demanded that President Tinubu immediately provides Nigerians with a comprehensive account of every kobo raised under the various power sector debt settlement programmes, including how much was raised, where the funds were domiciled, who received payment, what debts were settled, what obligations remain outstanding, and why fresh borrowing has become necessary despite repeated assurances that the problem was being addressed.

“No serious nation can continue to borrow its way into darkness. No responsible government repeatedly seeks fresh debt to settle liabilities it previously claimed to have settled,” the statement said, warning that until answers are provided, the exercise will remain “a racket dressed up as reform and a scandal searching desperately for a cover story.”

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