As Nigeria’s debt hits N36 trn
Emmanuel Thomas l Monday, June 14, 2021
LAGOS, Nigeria – The borrowing spree of the All Progressive Congress (APC) administration if unchecked, will certainly lead Nigeria into avoidable bankruptcy, governors of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), have said stressing that Nigeria’s current debt of over N36 Trillion Naira is becoming clearly unsustainable relative to our earnings and GDP.
The governors made the remarks in a communiqué after a meeting of the PDP governors in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The PDP Governors frowned at the rising and seemingly uncontrollable debt profile of Nigeria with over 80% of normal appropriation spent on debt servicing.
According to the PDP governors, all the gains of the PDP Government under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, where Nigeria exited its foreign debt obligations has been destroyed.
“Borrowing for frivolous items such as funding the Nigerian Television Authority is scandalous. Money should only be borrowed for productive purposes as Nigeria’s current debt of over N36 Trillion Naira is becoming clearly unsustainable relative to our earnings and GDP. We should not saddle incoming generations with undue debt burden”, the governors said, adding “The borrowing spree of the APC administration if unchecked, will certainly lead Nigeria into avoidable bankruptcy”, the party said.
The PDP Governor’s forum reiterated its call for the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to urgently send the revised Revenue Allocation Formula to Mr. President for onward transmission to the National Assembly for enactment, such that more resources are made available to States and Local Governments where ordinary Nigerians reside.
The forum called on the Chairman and Members of the Commission to resign or be relieved of their duties, if they cannot discharge this sacred constitutional duty it is entrusted with by the Nigerian people.
The governors noted that the present constitutional amendment process should make the Commission more independent and accountable to all stakeholders. The governor’s forum examined the operations of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and was alarmed at what it described as opaque manner it carries out its operations.
It decried the recent NNPCs decision not to make its statutory contributions to the Federation Account, a development, which the governors say is starving the States and Local Governments and indeed Nigerians of funds needed for employment, development and general wellbeing.
The governors emphasised that under the Constitution, the NNPC is duty bound to make proceeds of sale or business of Petroleum available to the Federation Account which belongs to the three tiers of government, excluding reasonable and verified and verifiable cost of operations.
They frowned at a situation where the NNPC decides in a totally discretionary and often whimsical manner, how much to spend, how to spend it and how much to remit to the Federation Account, contrary to the letters and even the spirit of the 1999 Constitution.
The PDP Governors also expressed deep concerns about the operational system and methods of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and viewed with regrets that the CBN is operating as an independent government within a Government, which is a pervasion of the autonomy of the Bank.
According to the governors, a situation where CBN creates money, decides how much of it to spend, on what to spend it on without any form of controls or supervision is patently subversive of our constitutional order.
“ It has become not just a LEVIATHAN, but also a father Christmas of sorts, dabbling into every sphere and scope of governmental activity, not just as a lender of last resort, but as a full executing agency of government”, they said.
The governors observed that the CBN has become such an octopus that it threatens State governments publicly, without decorum, about sanctions on any attempt to question its MODUS OPERANDI.
The governors called on other agencies of Government such as Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Federal Inland Revenue Services, Customs and Excise and similar organisations that are statutorily required to make contributions into the Federation Account, to do more.
“The federating States should, going forward now have a say in the determination of operating costs to ensure transparency and accountability”, the governors said , calling for urgent steps to reverse these ugly trends in our practice of democracy, constitutionalism and Federalism.
