Atiku Slams Federal Gov’t Over Debt Claims, Says Nigerians Now Budget For Ransom Like School Fees

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the President Bola Tinubu administration over what he described as attempts to justify Nigeria’s rising debt profile while citizens continued to face worsening hardship, insecurity and economic decline.

Atiku was reacting to recent remarks by the Presidency suggesting that Nigeria’s debt level remained lower than those of some African countries.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said the government appeared disconnected from the realities confronting ordinary Nigerians.

He maintained that no responsible administration measures economic progress by comparing debt levels with other countries, but by the quality of life of citizens, including access to food, security, jobs and economic opportunities.

He accused the Tinubu administration of reducing governance to “a public relations exercise” while living conditions continued to deteriorate.

“It is both astonishing and insulting that at a time when millions of Nigerians can barely afford one meal a day, when parents are withdrawing children from school because of crushing hardship, when businesses are collapsing under unbearable electricity tariffs and inflation, and when entire communities are being overrun by terrorists, bandits, and kidnappers, the Presidency is celebrating debt figures as though indebtedness itself were an economic achievement,” the statement said.

Atiku said borrowing could be beneficial when directed at productive investments such as infrastructure, agriculture, security and job creation. However, he argued that under the current administration, rising debt has coincided with worsening insecurity, hunger, declining purchasing power and growing public despair.

He said the average Nigerian is currently worse off despite what he described as increased borrowing and painful economic reforms.

“Across the country, farmers can no longer safely access their farmlands because vast territories have effectively fallen under the control of armed gangs and terrorists. Food production has declined sharply because rural communities now live under constant threat of attacks, abductions, and killings. The inevitable result is what Nigerians are currently witnessing — astronomical food prices, widespread hunger, malnutrition, and rising anger among citizens abandoned by their own government,” Atiku stated.

The former vice president also faulted what he described as the government’s handling of worsening insecurity across the country.

“In many parts of Nigeria today, travelling by road has become a gamble with death. Families go to bed praying not to receive midnight calls announcing the abduction of loved ones. Villages are sacked almost routinely while those in power appear more concerned about image management than decisive action. What exactly are Nigerians benefiting from all these loans if insecurity continues to spread and the economy continues to suffocate?” he queried.

Atiku accused the administration of relying on propaganda to divert attention from its economic policies.

“No nation becomes prosperous by borrowing to finance consumption, sustain wasteful government lifestyles, and paper over policy failures. Countries that borrow responsibly do so to expand productivity, create jobs, secure critical infrastructure, and improve the welfare of their citizens. In Nigeria today, however, citizens see no correlation between the mounting debt profile and improvement in their daily lives,” he added.

He urged the Federal Government to focus on addressing the country’s economic and security challenges with urgency and sincerity instead of propaganda.