Makinde-Daura campaign condemns Tinubu’s borrowing, warning mounting foreign debt threatens Nigeria’s sovereignty, economic stability and future generations.
The Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation has condemned the continued resort to foreign borrowing by Tinubu, cautioning that he’s deliberately mortgaging the sovereignty and future of the nation.
In a statement by the Director Strategic Communications, Richard Ihediuwa, the group vehemently rejected the latest loan 80 days to a crucial election that it said will ultimately remove him from office in May, 2027.
‘’We are deeply concerned that these loans are repeatedly justified under the omnibus of funding infrastructure, critical projects and budget deficits, yet Nigerians cannot point to commensurate projects or has this successive borrowing been able to adequately fund Tinubu’s three overlapping budget cycles, raising the question as to where monies have gone.
‘’This malignant debt cancer and insatiable appetite for foreign loans have reached alarming proportions that every well-meaning Nigerian should fear for the nation’s future as Tinubu’s government relentlessly accumulates domestic and external debts with neither commensurate development, transparent utilisation nor a credible repayment plan,’’ the campaign office said.
Ihediuwa said that this new request has reinforced the fear that Tinubu is burying Nigeria by installment.
‘’In June 2023, President Tinubu secured a $750 million World Bank loan under the Power Sector Recovery Performance programme to improve electricity supply nationwide. Ironically, Nigerians continue to endure crippling darkness, to the extent that the Aso Rock Villa is powered by a solar plant.
‘’That same month, another $500 million was borrowed for institutional strengthening and women’s empowerment. Where is the money, how many women have benefited, and where is the impact?
‘’In July 2023, the President secured another $800 million for Conditional Cash Transfers, followed by a further $700 million in September.
‘’In June 2024 President Tinubu borrowed $2.25 Billion for “Reforms for Economic Stabilization to Enable Transformation and Accelerating Stabilisation and Resilient Growth”. Today, the economy is not only atrophied, it is also neither transformed nor stabilised.
‘’In 2025, President Tinubu borrowed another $1.57 billion for healthcare, education and human-capital development, alongside another $500 million from the African Development Bank later that year.
‘’In 2025, the Senate approved an extensive borrowing plan involving $21.19 billion, €4 billion and ¥15 billion. Included was $3 billion earmarked for the Eastern Railway Corridor linking Port Harcourt to Maiduguri. Yet the corridor remains a question mark for Nigerians awaiting tangible progress as it remains as moribund as ever.
‘’In April 2026, the Senate approved $6 billion for modernizing our ports alongside another $1.5 billion for early-childhood development and household prosperity. What a bitter irony of a beautiful caption in Nigeria where millions of households struggle to afford food, while battling a devastating out-of-school-children crisis. And now comes another colossal borrowing request of $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion,’’ the group recalled.
The Makinde/Daura campaign cautioned that Tinubu is steering Nigeria towards the fate of Egypt under Khedive Isma’il (1863-1880) whose dependence on foreign loans and extravagant spending drove Egypt into bankruptcy with devastating consequences on the sovereignty of that nation.
He said that it was unfortunate that at his age, Tinubu is leaving a legacy of ‘debt and enslavement’ rather than productive investments, prosperity, and economic stability.