Speaker Abbas Makes U-turn, Says Tinubu Working Hard For Responsible Borrowing

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has said President Bola Tinubu was moving assiduously to code Nigeria’s nationalist indebtedness done a non-oil gross drive.

This is adjacent arsenic the Speaker noted that nationalist debt, if good utilised, tin engender maturation and improvement successful immoderate country.

He said Nigeria could leverage liable borrowing for sustainable improvement arsenic demonstrated by the Tinubu administration.

These were contained successful a property merchandise signed and issued by the Speaker’s media adviser, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, connected Monday evening.

Earlier successful the day, LEADERSHIP reports that Abbas, represented astatine the lawsuit by the Leader of the House, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, warned that the country’s nationalist indebtedness profile, which totalled N149.39 trillion (US$97 billion) successful the archetypal 4th of 2025, if not checked, portends information for the future.

Abbas spoke alongside the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who was besides represented, astatine the 11th Annual Conference and General Assembly of the West Africa Association of Public Accounts Committees (WAAPAC) successful Abuja connected Monday.

The league is hosted by the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee with the theme: “Strengthening Parliamentary Oversight of Public Debt.”

However, Abbas’ communicative alteration successful the property connection issued by his aide, saying “Indeed, nationalist debt, erstwhile managed prudently, tin beryllium a instrumentality for maturation and prosperity. Yet, erstwhile near unchecked, it becomes a load that erodes economical stableness and threatens the payment of aboriginal generations.”

The connection by the Special Adviser connected Media and Publicity to the Speaker, Musa Krishi, noted that the Speaker’s remarks were not a telephone to cull borrowing outright but reflected a liable attack to indebtedness management—one that ensures that borrowing translates into existent worth for Nigerians.

This, the connection noted, aligns squarely with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises fiscal discipline, prudent assets management, and channeling funds into captious areas similar infrastructure, education, greenish energy, and societal welfare.

Last week, President Tinubu announced during a gathering with the stakeholders of The Buhari Organization successful Abuja, Nigeria, had met its gross people for 2025 up of docket and would nary longer trust connected borrowing to money its budget.

The President besides said his administration’s non-oil gross thrust had yielded capable to conscionable this year’s projections by August, reducing Nigeria’s dependence connected outer loans.

“Today I tin basal present earlier you to brag: Nigeria is not borrowing. We person met our gross people for the year, and we met it successful August,” the president said.

At the WAAPAC event, the Speaker emphasised the “need for stronger oversight, transparent borrowing practices, and a corporate resoluteness to guarantee that tangible economical and societal returns lucifer each naira borrowed.”

He added: “When we analyse the sources of Africa’s outer financing, it becomes wide that the value of indebtedness connected our continent is shaped by whom we get from and connected what terms. Today, Western backstage lenders clasp astir 35 percent of Africa’s authorities indebtedness done banks, plus managers, and lipid traders.

“Multilateral institutions, specified arsenic the World Bank and the IMF, relationship for different 39 percent, portion bilateral loans from different governments comprise 13 percent. Chinese creditors, contempt overmuch of the nationalist debate, clasp lone 12 percent.

“To spot this successful sharper focus, successful 2019, bondholders unsocial represented 27 percent of Africa’s outer debt, making them the azygous largest creditor group, up of China astatine 13 percent.”

Speaker Abbas stated that if Africa is to turn stronger, the countries indispensable not lone negociate fairer presumption of borrowing but besides rethink their dependence connected outer finance.

“We indispensable transmission much vigor into mobilising home resources, fostering intra-African trade, and creating fiscal instruments that service the continent’s ain improvement priorities. Only past tin we determination from vulnerability to resilience, and from dependency to existent economical sovereignty,” helium said.

The Speaker stated that the league could not person travel astatine a much opportune time, “as our nations look mounting fiscal pressures that request stronger legislative oversight of nationalist indebtedness and borrowing.”

He besides noted that the taxable “speaks straight to the urgency of safeguarding our fiscal future,” stressing that it “goes to the precise bosom of antiauthoritarian governance and sustainable development.”

Speaker Abbas said, “Therefore, oversight of nationalist indebtedness is simply a antiauthoritarian work and a moral...