The Peoples Democratic Party, has called on Nigerians to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from borrowing $29.960b for the execution of key programmes and infrastructural projects across the country.
It also asked the National Assembly not to approve the request by the President.
It said it disagreed with the Federal Government on this move, and called on President Buhari to explain to Nigerians what his administration had done with the recovered looted funds.
Spokesperson for the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, stated this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
Adeyeye said that President Buhari must itemise what he intends to finance with the proposed borrowing of almost $30b instead of lumping it up in a coded term, “and to plunge the nation’s future into burden of debt.”
More so, he said that the President’s approach cannot be the preferred solution to the economic quagmire which he said was created by the present government.
Adeyeye, a former minister of state for works said, “This Government budgeted N6.07trn for the 2016 Fiscal Year with deficit of N2.22trn and according to the breakdown, N1.8trn was budgeted for Capital Expenditure and President Buhari is now seeking to borrow over N9trn ($29.960b) for ‘critical infrastructure’.
“This is absurd and way outside the Government budgetary provisions for Capital Expenditure and must be rejected by all well-meaning Nigerians.
“Nigerians will recall that the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in June 2016 made public through a press statement, an account of recovered looted funds between May 2015 to May 2016 amounting to the sums of N78.3b, $185.1m, £3.5m and €11,250m in cash; while others were under interim forfeiture. What happened to the recovered funds?
“Or is it the same funds the EFCC and Department of State Services are planting in houses of opposition figures and Justices instead of channeling it into the economy?”