Nigeria’s Debt Rises To $84bn Under Buhari – PRP

Malam Falalu Bello has raised the alarm over skyrocketing debt profile under President Muhammdu Buhari, rising from $10 billion in 2015 to $84bn. Bello was at different times the managing director of Unity, Habib and Intercity banks.

Speaking during a media dialogue in Abuja, he urged the National Assembly not to approve the new $29.9bn loan request from Buhari.  Describing the rising debt profile as unacceptable, he said if the new request is approved, the country’s debt profile would be over $100bn.

He said, “When he came into office in 2015, the government inherited a debt burden of just $10 billion, today our country’s debt exposure has spiralled to about $84bn. Yet there is hardly anything on the ground to show for this staggering debt profile.

“Already debt servicing is costing us almost half the budget with nothing left for development,” he said. He also urged the federal government to stop the Foreign Exchange subsidy, this he said benefits only a very few at the expense of the masses.

“Multiple Exchange Rates of N305 to a dollar for government business; N345 to a dollar for the Interbank Market; and N345 to a dollar at the Import and Export window benefit only a few and deprives the Federal, States and Local Governments of much needed revenue.

“Mr. President, the petroleum subsidy fraud you have identified and promised to stop is continuing and has even become bigger and need be brought to an end,” he said.