Freeze Tinubu’s $21.7bn mortgage till after 2027 elections – Agada

The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, Arch. Peter Agada, has known as on the National Assembly to droop President Bola Tinubu’s contemporary international mortgage request till after the 2027 basic elections.

Agada made the decision in Abuja on Wednesday in response to Tinubu’s request to the Senate for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion to finance supplementary exterior borrowing for 2026 and 2027.

He expressed concern over the timing of the request, coming lower than 110 days earlier than the 2027 basic elections, amid Nigeria’s rising public debt.

“We must account for how previous loans were spent before asking for approval to borrow more,” Agada stated.

“Now we want to add another $21.7bn less than 110 days before the 2027 general election,” he stated.

He argued that the federal government had but to totally fund its budgets, whereas capital finances efficiency remained under 40 per cent and contractors have been nonetheless being owed.

“For three years, the Federal Government has been unable to fully finance its budget. Capital performance is below 40 per cent.

“Contractors are being owed. Yet we are borrowing more. In Architecture, you don’t borrow to build a new house when you have not roofed the old one,” he stated.

The YPP candidate additionally questioned why the federal government continued to hunt giant international loans regardless of the elimination of gas subsidy and the floating of the naira, which he stated had elevated authorities income.

Agada questioned how the financial savings from gas subsidy elimination had been utilised, noting that Emir Sanusi and different leaders had additionally raised considerations over the difficulty.

He additional questioned what the proposed mortgage would obtain earlier than the elections, arguing that main infrastructure initiatives couldn’t be accomplished inside the remaining interval.

“If you approve $20.5bn today, can you complete any power, transport, health or education project in 100 days? No. So what will this money actually do? Pay contractors who are party financiers? Fund election logistics?” he requested.

Agada proposed that if the National Assembly authorised the mortgage, it ought to embrace a clause stopping the federal government from accessing the funds between January and May 2027.

“If you must approve this loan, insert a clear clause: No disbursement from January 2027 to May 2027. The money should come after the election, to whoever wins, not before to the incumbent. That is how you prove it is not political,” he stated.

He additionally warned that the contemporary borrowing may ship blended indicators to traders, notably as the federal government continued to advertise its financial reforms.

Agada proposed measures he stated may save Nigeria greater than ₦13 trillion yearly with out counting on contemporary borrowing or further taxes.