Save Nigerians from burden of debt, APC chieftain tells Tinubu

Osita Okechukwu foundation member of the APC, has said after perusing the 2025 national budget, appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to as a matter of urgent national importance to SOS (Save Our Soul) Nigerians from debt trap so as to fulfill his Renewed Hope Agenda and allow the citizenry to breathe.

He lamented that he cannot factor how the Renewed Hope Agenda will bring the intended succor to Nigerians when we are owing all manner of debts both local and foreign, prohibitive interest rate of treasury bills, plus dangerous dollar denominated loans, and short term EuroBond; therefore the imperative of Fiscal Restructuring of Debt Service.

Okechukwu submitted that he is making this humble appeal to Mr President, for Benjamin Franklin admonished us that he who goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing; hence the imperative of setting up a high powered panel of inquiry to reexamine our debts so as to unravel genuine and less than transparent debt transactions.

He cautioned that huge debt burden is a threat to our nascent democracy and will drain resources meant for health, education and poverty alleviation. And regrets that the budget for Defence(N4.91tr);Infrastructure(N4.06tr); Education(N3.52tr)and Health(N2.48tr) altogether totalling N14.97tr, is far less than N15.8trillion budgeted for Debt Service.

Okechukwu acknowledged that there is no more fuel subsidy, kudos to Mr President; unfortunately humongous debt service has become the new elephant anti-production in the room.

“Yes, fuel subsidy is gone, albeit fuel subsidy regime which had links with the planlessness and squandermania that governed the sordid debt exercise. Or do we forget outliers like when Dr Iweala, WTO President instituted a panel which probed and found out that the fuel subsidy was riddled with corruption, upon which the culprits resorted to kidnap of her mother?

“Accordingly Mr President should dust up Iweala’s file and other bad loan files with the intendment to recover monies and return Nigeria to productive economy.” Okechukwu retorted.

Okechukwu said that it is with nostalgia one recalls that the first loan Nigeria borrowed from Paris Club was $13.1 million in 1964 for the construction of Niger Dam and the Nigeria’s debt relief deal with same Paris Club of creditors under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in 2005.

He narrated that our cancelled debt in December 2004 was $35.994 billion and paradoxically our debt burden today is N121.67 trillion equivalent of $91.46 billion USD.

“And the only break fetters of debt burden like in 2005 is fiscal restructuring in other words high power multilateral panel of inquiry to ascertain our actual debt and look for debt cancellation.

“Asked what must done?
Okechukwu opined that he agreed totally with President Tinubu that we must make bold decisions, even though it may be painful; accordingly the necessary bold decisions at this critical junction is not excessive taxation or high tariffs, but multilateral high powered panel of inquiry of eminent local and international statesmen to reexamine our domestic and foreign debts as the only answer to SOS (Save Our Soul) Nigerians from Debt Trap.

“And secondly plug corruption and restrict borrowing to only critical infrastructure via humanitarian groups like SUKUK and friends of Nigeria.