Borrowing: FG mortgaging Nigeria’s future – Obi

Former Anambra State governor, Mr. Peter Obi said the Federal Government’s “excessive and reckless borrowing” is mortgaging the nation’s future.

Obi in a statement by media adviser, Valentine Obienyem, expressed concern at Nigeria’s rising debt profile.

He, however, explained that financial borrowing was not entirely bad unless it was done without a business plan.
Obi, who was vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019, regretted that the loans acquired by the country have not impacted positively on the nation’s economy.

He warned that excessive financial borrowing would hit the country hard if it was not curtailed, noting that Nigeria has borrowed a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP).
“No country borrows a quarter of its GDP without showing tangible investments or projects into which the borrowed funds were employed,” Obi noted.

According to him, between 2008 and now, Nigeria has borrowed almost $100 billion, which he said represented a quarter of the country’s GDP.
The former governor bemoaned the significant decrease in Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which he said, was as a result of the high level of insecurity in the country.

He noted that the alarming level of insecurity in the country also discouraged local investors from investing into Nigeria’s economy which was negatively affecting the economy.