Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has again tackled President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration over increased borrowing, which rose to N24.7 trillion.
Atiku, in a statement by his media team, condemned the country’s borrowing appetite under President Tinubu despite increased revenue.
According to him, it does not make economic sense for Nigeria to continue borrowing while revenue from crude oil sales has surged, with Brent crude soaring to $96 per barrel, nearing $100 per barrel, on Monday.
Atiku said Tinubu’s government’s continued appetite for borrowing is evidence of dangerous fiscal indiscipline that is starving Nigerian businesses of credit, killing jobs and worsening the cost-of-living crisis.
“At the beginning of this fiscal year, the Federal Government budgeted on an oil benchmark of $64.85 per barrel. Today, crude oil prices have risen substantially above that benchmark.
“Yet, instead of this windfall translating into lower borrowing, stronger businesses and relief for Nigerians, the Federal Government went into the domestic market and borrowed a staggering N24.7 trillion between January and August 2026 — 90.5 per cent more than the N12.98 trillion borrowed in the corresponding period of 2025.
“This is not fiscal management. This is a government borrowing like drunken sailors in the middle of a revenue windfall.
“After three years of sacrifice, Nigerians deserve to see what happened to the subsidy savings, the additional revenues and the crude-oil windfall.
“You cannot collect more, earn more and still borrow more, while asking hungry Nigerians to sacrifice more. Something is fundamentally wrong with that equation,” he stated.
“At the beginning of this fiscal year, the Federal Government budgeted on an oil benchmark of $64.85 per barrel. Today, crude oil prices have risen substantially above that benchmark.
“Yet, instead of this windfall translating into lower borrowing, stronger businesses and relief for Nigerians, the Federal Government went into the domestic market and borrowed a staggering N24.7 trillion between January and August 2026 — 90.5 per cent more than the N12.98 trillion borrowed in the corresponding period of 2025.
“This is not fiscal management. This is a government borrowing like drunken sailors in the middle of a revenue windfall.
“After three years of sacrifice, Nigerians deserve to see what happened to the subsidy savings, the additional revenues and the crude-oil windfall.
“You cannot collect more, earn more and still borrow more, while asking hungry Nigerians to sacrifice more. Something is fundamentally wrong with that equation,” he stated.
