The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has expressed alarm over fresh plans by president muhammadu Buhari to borrow a $1.2 billion loan from Brazil.
The party in a statement by its national publicity secretary Kola Ologbondiyan chides Buhari over what it described as “reckless borrowings”.
In the statement issued by its spokesman Ologbondiyan, the party also warned that if the National Assembly approves the loan request, it “will exacerbate our nation’s debt burden, mortgage our agricultural sector, weaken our investment capacity and worsen our food security challenge.”
The opposition party cautioned the Presidency not to further weaken by using “nebulous agricultural programs as justification for further accumulation of foreign loans, without clear terms and conditions, to the detriment of the poor masses and generations yet unborn.”
The statement continued: “Our party invites Nigerians to note that with the $1.2 billion (N459 billion) Brazilian loan, in addition to the N5.20 trillion borrowing already proposed in the 2021 budget, our nation’s debt burden will hit a disastrous N36.2 trillion which will plunge our economy into a devastating pitfall.
“The PDP, therefore, urges the National Assembly to save the nation by being circumspect in handling the loan request in the national interest.
“Instead of this recourse to reckless borrowings, the PDP urges the Buhari Presidency to apply itself productively by looking inwards and finding ways to harness and create wealth with the resources abounding in our country.
“What Nigeria needs now is for the government to be more innovative and resourceful in galvanizing a productive economy instead of reducing our nation to a beggar status among the comity of nations.”
For the opposition party, the public outcry against the accumulation of loans from China and other foreign interests is loud and therefore precaution should to taken in order to maintain orderliness in the nation.
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