Senator Ali Ndume has said the government of President Bola Tinubu borrowed about 9.45 billion dollars since June 2023 for projects he calls unclear and hard to see on the ground. The Borno South lawmaker spoke on Arise News and listed the sums one by one. He put the total near 13 trillion naira.
In June 2023 the government took 500 million dollars for a women’s programme. On the same day it took another 800 million dollars meant to ease the pain of higher petrol prices after subsidy removal. In September 2023 it borrowed 700 million dollars for adolescent girls’ learning and empowerment. In December 2023 it borrowed 750 million dollars for renewable energy scale up. In June 2024 it took 1.5 billion dollars to support economic stabilisation reforms and another 750 million dollars for technical support to steady the economy and help the poor.
Ndume said he is not against borrowing itself. He noted that large countries borrow for clear roads, railways and other works people can see and measure. He argued that the recent loans go to items that are not solid or lasting. He asked where Nigerians can point to the results of the women’s funds or the girls’ programme. He said if cash reached the poor someone would step forward and thank the government. He added that to his knowledge many of these loans did not go through full National Assembly approval the way they should.
Fuel subsidy is gone yet prices stay high and daily life remains hard for most people. Debt keeps rising. Nigeria’s total debt stock climbed sharply through 2024. Ndume warned that the country will repay these sums for decades while ordinary citizens see little lasting benefit. He said the money should have gone to infrastructure people can touch and use. Nigerians, he insisted, deserve a plain and open account of exactly where every dollar and naira went.
