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Obi decries Nigeria’s rising debt, says ‘nation is collapsing’
A former governor of Anambra State and Vice-Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections, Peter Obi, has accused the present administration of sinking the nation into massive debt.
Obi made the accusation on Tuesday during the 65th birthday ceremony of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Onitsha Catholic Ecclesiastical Province, His Grace, Most Rev. Valerian Maduka Okeke, in Onitsha, Anambra state.
According to Obi, it was “quite unfortunate that Nigeria was owing $30 billion some time ago and our creditors cancelled the debts for the nation to move forward and now, this present regime has plunged us into a deeper debt profile to the tune of $80 billion, an indication that the nation is collapsing.”
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He lamented that over 13.5 million Nigerian children are not in school, adding that the consistent increase in the nation’s unemployment rate was very disturbing.
Nigeria’s rising debt profile and other worsening macroeconomic variables, suggesting the nation’s economy was not performing as expected, have been a source of concerns lately. The concerns got heightened when President Muhammadu Buhari two weeks ago wrote to the National Assembly seeking for its nod to borrow another $2.78 billion.
The amount, which has been approved by both chamber of the National Assembly, is expected to be sourced through Eurobond offering from the International Capital Market.
Among prominent Nigerians who recently reacted to the increasing debt profile is Nigeria’s former Minister of Education and Vice-President (Africa) of World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, who advised the government to recede its plan to incur the $2.78 billion.
She argued that the plan to borrow more funds would further worsen the nation’s economic health.
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