Past govts reason we have to borrow so much -Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government has slammed criticism over its incessant solicitation for foreign loans.

This stance was made by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed who noted that such criticisms are insincere due to the state of the economy.

According to the minister, the government had to borrow so much because there was nothing on ground to show for funds previous administrations borrowed.

Lai made this call on Thursday during a town hall meeting in Maiduguri to redress the incessant vandalism of power and telecommunications infrastructure.

The event was also attended by the Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum.

READ ALSO: Nigeria will continue to cooperate with China -Lai Mohammed

According to Minister, it was imperative for the FG to borrow due to the appalling state of infrastructure across the country while listing completed and ongoing projects, as a result.

“Today, we have new airport terminals in Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt, the Itakpe-Warri rail line that was abandoned for decades is running.

“We have well over 13,000km of federal roads under repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction and there is a road project in every state,

“Today, we have started the countdown to when the 2nd Niger Bridge, which successive administrations have built only on paper, will be completed.

“The list of projects we are handling with the loans we obtained is long,’’ he said.

Lai also launched an attack on the previous administration over the current predicament of the country which he said necessitated the borrowings.

“For example, in their time, they claimed to have spent billions of Naira in building infrastructure, but as one can see, their infrastructure projects were only on paper.

“Today, we are still saddled with looking for resources to build the same infrastructure for which they claimed to have allocated huge resources.

“We will not be deterred by the antics of those who believe they can play politics with everything,” the Minister said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now