Atiku Slams Tinubu Over Fresh $1.25bn World Bank Loan, Calls Borrowing Addiction ‘Economic Vandalism’

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government over reports that it was in talks with the World Bank for a fresh $1.25 billion loan facility, describing the administration’s borrowing pattern as “economic vandalism.”

In a statement issued on Sunday through his media aide, Olusola Sanni, Atiku expressed concern over what he described as Nigeria’s rising debt profile under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He said it was “both troubling and unconscionable” that an administration which promised economic renewal had instead become “synonymous with industrial-scale borrowing,” without corresponding improvements in the living conditions of Nigerians.

“This borrowing binge is becoming reckless, opaque, and dangerously habitual. The loans are coming with a burden of weight too heavy for Nigerians to bear. Nigerians were told these loans were for infrastructure, power, and economic recovery. Yet the average citizen still lives in darkness, roads remain death traps, businesses are collapsing under crushing energy costs, and hunger has become a national epidemic,” Atiku said.

The former vice president also called on the World Bank and other international creditors to exercise caution in approving further loans to Nigeria.

“At this point it has become necessary to demand that the World Bank and, indeed, other creditors apply more prudent measures in ensuring significant compliance to the terms and conditions of these loans,” he stated.

Atiku questioned the economic rationale behind the government’s continued resort to external borrowing despite official claims of improved revenue generation.

“The IDA loans are facilities granted to extremely poor countries and currently shares the same spot with Bangladesh and Pakistan as top countries in world with highest loan exposure to the World Bank. This data is diametrically opposed to claims by the Tinubu administration that the government had increased its revenue generation drive,” he said.

He further lamented what he described as a reversal of the gains achieved during the debt relief negotiations carried out under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku between 2005 and 2006.

“It is deeply ironic that the same nation which painstakingly exited the Paris Club debt trap through the fiscal discipline, diplomatic credibility, and reform-driven leadership of the Obasanjo-Atiku administration in 2005–2006 is now being dragged back into a fresh era of debt dependency,” he said.

According to him, the Tinubu administration has secured “record massive loans” from the World Bank since assuming office, under objectives “that are difficult to verify its implementation.”

“The historic debt relief of 2006 was not accidental. It was earned through tough negotiations, prudent management, and international goodwill. Today, that legacy is being squandered with alarming irresponsibility,” he added.

Atiku maintained that borrowing should not be mistaken for governance or economic progress.

“This administration appears to believe that borrowing is governance. It is not. Loans are not achievements. Debt is not development. And mortgaging the future of unborn Nigerians to fund present incompetence is not economic management—it is economic vandalism,” he stated.

The former vice president also urged international financial institutions and credit agencies to insist on greater transparency and accountability before extending further credit to Nigeria.

“No responsible lender should ignore the warning signs. A government that keeps borrowing while citizens see no tangible improvement in electricity supply, healthcare, education, or infrastructure raises legitimate concerns about fiscal credibility and governance discipline,” he said.

He warned that Nigeria could not continue addressing every economic challenge through borrowing.

“Nigeria cannot continue down this dangerous path where every economic challenge is answered with another loan request. At some point, creditors must ask themselves whether they are funding development or enabling dysfunction.

“The Tinubu administration must understand that a nation cannot borrow its way out of incompetence. Governance requires vision, discipline, productivity, and trust—not endless promissory notes signed against the future of a suffering people,” Atiku added.

He subsequently called on the Federal Government to provide Nigerians with a comprehensive account of all loans secured since the current administration came into office, including the terms of the loans, disbursement status, and project outcomes linked to each facility.