Atiku urges World Bank to reject Tinubu’s $500m loan request
Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the Tinubu administration’s pursuit of a proposed $500 million loan from the World Bank.
Atiku said President Bola Tinubu cannot borrow in the final days of his tenure and leave the incoming administration and Nigerians to repay the debt.
He argued that no outgoing president has the right to burden his successor with fresh debt days before handing over power.
Atiku made this known in a viral statement on Tuesday.
His reaction comes amid the Federal Government’s reported plan to secure a $500 million loan from the international lender.
Atiku accused Tinubu of mortgaging Nigeria’s future, insisting that the incumbent administration has no business committing the country to additional debt beyond 2027.
He urged the World Bank not to approve the Tinubu administration’s fresh $500 million loan request.
“Taking loans as if you were a drunken sailor is a road to economic bondage, a second slavery. If this government is determined to mortgage Nigeria’s future and place our country at the mercy of creditors, we will not accept it.
“According to the report, the proposed $500 million facility is scheduled for consideration on May 25, 2027, just four days before the next presidential inauguration. President Tinubu has no business committing the country to fresh debt as he prepares to leave office.
“We call on the World Bank not to approve this proposed loan on the timetable now being contemplated,” he stated.
DAILY POST reports that Nigeria’s total public debt stood at about N166.79 trillion, according to June 2026 data from the Debt Management Office, DMO.
Financial experts, including Professor Godwin Oyedokun, have called for caution over the country’s rising debt profile.
However, the Tinubu administration has maintained that Nigeria’s debt level is sustainable.
