Nigerians have urged him to put a moratorium on borrowings till he leaves office.
This was as many advised the President to stop awarding further contracts, saying he has only 16 more days to stay in office and should therefore not give room for looting and diversion of public funds in the name of contract mobilisation funds.
“This government must work. We expect the next government to also work until the very last day of their tenure.” Similarly, a public affairs analyst and lawyer, Abiodun Williams, noted that, “nothing should make Buhari borrow again until he leaves office.” “The effect this will have on the incoming administration is that it may make it go bankrupt, especially if the next president also adopts Buhari’s borrowing style. Already, the economy is crippling and that’s partly due to this debt,” he added.
He said: “While Mr. Muhammadu Buhari as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has right to sign all documents till May 29, 2023, when he will formally handover power to the incoming administration, Nigerians have every power to query the intentions behind the last minute contracts he is awarding and the loans he is securing.
Also speaking, an environmentalist and human rights activist, Comrade Alagoa Morris, said Buhari should by now be preoccupied with preparing his handover notes, not burrowing more money. “Leaving a huge debt burden for the next administration is a minus for the outgoing administration and an undesirable phenomenon.
“Huge burden, as so much funds that would otherwise be put into productive use, would be used to service debt. This will deny the nation in the area of economic growth.” He stated that already the country was sitting uncomfortably by the efforts to repay the loan secured with about 70 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue , lamenting that the economic benefits of projects executed with secured loans were not factored before such loans were appropriated.
“We have secured loans to rebuild the rail line such as the one going to Niger Republic without asking whether anybody will utilise the service to be able to raise such loans within the shortest period of time. CISLAC warned that the decision of President Buhari would definitely affect the next administration especially as this is an overlap and overburden of responsibility, noting that the implications is that the next administration would struggle to pay off the debt.
“The big question is: Why would the President award such contracts when he is fully aware of the economic situation of the country? More worrying is how this administration borrowed money in the name of development but the monies allegedly ended up in the pockets of some government officials and some politicians, and yet the President sought the approval to borrow 800 million dollars in just some few weeks before handing over power. This is just ridiculous.
According to him, the Nigerian economy and population would continue to suffer the consequences of these decisions. “This last minute contract award is very suspicious and dubious as it creates opportunities for looting and diversion of public funds in the name of contract mobilisation funds,” he added.
“The loan seems appropriate for me, but the loan may be time bound. It is to soften and prepare ground for the next government. The fact that we borrow means we are credit worthy, which is even a sign to other countries and the World Bank that we have capacity to pay,” he added.
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