Amidst growing criticism of the country’s debt profile, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said on Monday the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), alone could not be blamed for the country’s debt stock.

He said the debt stock was “a cumulative figure of borrowings by successive governments over many years”.

Speaking at a media briefing to present the Buhari government’s major achievements, Mohammed, however, said there was yet no cause for alarm over the country’s $83bn (about N25.5tn) debt.

According to him, the country still operates within its debt ceiling of 25 per cent in the total public debt stock to Gross Domestic Product.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who headed one of the previous governments (1999 – 2007) that the minister referred to, on Friday joined prominent citizens, economists and organisations, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to warn Nigeria against its rising debt profile.

Obasanjo, who was a keynote speaker at the ‘Why I am Alive’ campaign in Lagos, said Nigeria risked impending bankruptcy over debt accumulation by the government.

He said things might get worse economically as Nigeria and other African countries kept piling up debts, saying he was worried future generations who would have to pay such loans.

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2019 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had also said the Buhari administration had taken more loans in the last three years.
But the minister justified the borrowing, saying no government would sit by and do nothing in the face of massive infrastructural decay.

He said, “Recently, there have been concerns in certain circles about the country’s growing debt, both domestic and external. In the process, there have been some misrepresentations and scaremongering. We, therefore, believe it is important to put things in the right perspective, so our citizens will be well informed.

The public debt stock is actually a cumulative figure of borrowings by successive governments over many years. It is therefore not appropriate to attribute the public debt stock to one administration.

“Nigeria’s total public debt stock in 2015 was $63.80bn, comprising $10.31bn of external debt and $53.49bn domestic debt. By June 2019, the total debt stock was $83.883bn, made up of $27.163bn of external debt and $56.720bn domestic debt. It is therefore not correct to say that Nigeria’s external debt alone is $81.274bn.

There is yet no cause for alarm. This is because Nigeria has a debt ceiling of 25 per cent in the total public debt stock to Gross Domestic Product (Debt/GDP), which it has operated within. The ratio for December 31, 2018 and June 30, 2019 were 19.09 per cent and 18.99 per cent, respectively.”
He noted that the debt service to revenue ratio had however been higher than desirable, which informed the push by the government to diversify the economy and increase oil and non-oil revenues significantly.
He said the government was also widening its tax base to capture more tax-paying citizens.

Mohammed added, “In the face of massive infrastructural decay, no responsible government will sit by and do nothing. This administration’s borrowing, therefore, is aimed at revamping our infrastructure, including roads, bridges, railways, waterways and power, to help unleash the potential of the nation’s economy. The loans for the educational sector will contribute to the development of our human capital while the loans for the agricultural sector will help the move to diversify the economy.”

Meanwhile, the minister also stated that the Federal Government had succeeded in reducing the cost of governance and the rate of corruption in the country with the aid of the different policies put in place during the course of the year.

Source: https://punchng.com/buhari-alone-cant-be-blamed-for-nigerias-debt-fg/

If the head of the fish is ROTTEN. . . .

What I've been saying for a while:

''Nigeria’s total public debt stock in 2015 was $63.80bn, comprising $10.31bn of external debt and $53.49bn domestic debt. By June 2019, the total debt stock was $83.883bn, made up of $27.163bn of external debt and $56.720bn domestic debt. It is therefore not correct to say that Nigeria’s external debt alone is $81.274bn''.

Bulk of the blames should be passed to Obj & Gej. You borrowed money for infrastructure and it's later landed in private pockets.That's bad

On This issue" u can't blame him "on that issue "he is not to blame"
Who is to be blame then ?

A

Doomed country...

Didn't know I was among

This empty brain come again 2 depend his clueless master.

Blame game since 2015.So who have been involved in reckless borrowing and indiscriminate taxation to shore up revenues in order to fund the budget despite the claims of of phantoms revenue generation by govt agencies? Idiot!

Chai...

From saying that It is not yet up to the ceiling to now shifting the blame.

Obj was right after all..

ok

They should blame Sarrki Abi dead meat seller like.yall have been doing on this platform.for a while.

You are absolutely 100 % right Mr lai Muhammed.

I saw it coming, they know nothing than shifting goal post...

Heheheee.. My people, Laye don come again oo

Buhari and APC wants to drown this country with debts, that can't be paid in the next 30 years. They keep borrowing yet nothing to show for it apart from lies and propaganda.

evergreen9:
Admitting we are in debt, wow finally.......telling the truth feel so refreshing, doesn't it?

Had you been interested you would have known we were always in debt even before this government was sworn in.

63.8 Billion big ones.

obembet:


Source: https://punchng.com/buhari-alone-cant-be-blamed-for-nigerias-debt-fg/

Lai and Buhari are anti-nigerian rebels.
Lai should keep quiet,he is confused.

It is finished hahahaha

Lies from Lia Mohammad
Nigerian minister of information, how ironic

It's well

Twenty47:
Lol.. My people, Laye don come again oo

I was going to say about something like this

great article helps me alot thanks for sharing keep it up..

they av started again with their blame game

The more I read news like dis, the more I fill depressed in dis country. All this debt if it was showing in the country infrastructure and economy won't that have been better. But with all the debt Nigeria is just bleeped up. I don't blame buhari, I blame my father.

APC/Buhari are addicted to borrowing. Their destiny is to subject future generations to debt, while themselves live in opulence.

Debt is the destiny of APC. It didn't start today

Aregbesola and Fayemi put their states to debts that will take many years to repay


APC are like US Democrats; socialist liars

Ok