Ex-lawmaker queries Nigerian Govt’s borrowings
A former House of Representatives member, Dachung Bagos has frowned at Federal Government’s borrowings, wondering how the country is going to pay back.
The ex-lawmaker, who was a guest on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, said Nigeria is neither an industrialized nor an exporting nation.
President Bola Tinubu recently sent a N1.77 trillion ($2.2b) loan request to the National Assembly.
Few days after the loan request, the Senate approved the request, paving ways for questions from many Nigerians, including Bagos who represented Jos South/Jos East.
“You are collecting loans, where are the templates? What are the templates for repayment of those loans? We are not a producing nation. We are not industrialised. We are not an exporting nation.
“So, a lot of issues are wrong with our loans. You borrow to take breakfast, borrow to take lunch, borrow to take dinner every day, borrow to pay your children’s school fees, borrow to do every single thing. How are you going to pay those loans,” he asked.
Bagos said the country’s borrowing ratio was getting high and believed that with the tax reforms by President Tinubu expected to come into full swing, Nigerians may be burdened.
The loan is part of a fresh external borrowing plan to partially finance the N9.7 trillion budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year.
The fresh loan is expected to stretch the amount spent on debt servicing by the Federal Government.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that it cost the Federal Government $3.58 billion to service foreign debt in the first nine months of the year.
