Tinubu: When You Take The Debt To N200trillion, You Have Made Every Nigerian To Be Owing N1m—Okonkwo

Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesperson for African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the Federal Government’s fresh borrowing plan, questioning the need to incur additional debt despite its claims of increased revenue and substantial foreign reserves. He made the remarks during an interview on News Central TV on Wednesday, October 28, 2026.

Asked whether the public backlash was driven by the timing or the amount of the proposed borrowing, Okonkwo said he believed the government’s borrowing strategy raised fundamental questions about its financial management. “Everything about this borrowing, sorry to say, is very satanic. The whole idea of it is to destroy this country,” he said.

The ADC spokesperson questioned why the government was seeking additional loans despite the removal of the fuel subsidy and what he described as repeated borrowing under successive annual budgets since 2023. “First and foremost, how can a government that has removed subsidy completely be talking about borrowing?” he asked.

Okonkwo also questioned the rationale for additional borrowing in light of the government’s reported foreign reserves, which he said had risen above $50 billion. “Have you noticed that since 2023, every provision for borrowing in each budget was borrowed to the full, yet no capital expenditure is being funded? Where is the borrowing going to?,” he said.

He contrasted the current administration’s approach with that of the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in which Atiku Abubakar served as vice-president. “Obasanjo/Atiku regime used our foreign reserve to exit us from debt because they know the consequences,” he said.

He further argued that Nigeria’s existing debt burden made the proposed loans particularly concerning, claiming that the country already had total debt exceeding $100 billion. “And this is a government that has a total debt of more than 100 billion dollars, and you want to borrow more than 20 billion dollars in one fell swoop,” he said.

Breaking down the proposed borrowing, Okonkwo cited figures of $20.5 billion and €1.04 billion, which he converted into naira to illustrate the scale of the financial commitment. “Now let me break it down as an economist. $20.5 billion at the rate of ₦1,400 gives you about ₦28.7 trillion. If you add both of them, we’re talking about ₦30.2 trillion. One fell swoop. One,” he said.

Okonkwo argued that the proposed borrowing represented a substantial addition to Nigeria’s existing debt. “That means 30% of all our total debt we want to borrow at one time. To do what with it? You say you have revenue and you’re getting revenue more than any other regime. Yet, the first half of June 2026, your revenue was not enough to pay for the cost of servicing debt,” he said.

According to Okonkwo, debt-servicing costs during the period stood at ₦7.7 trillion,. “The cost of servicing our debt was ₦7.7 trillion. First half of June 2026. And we just had like ₦6.2 trillion. And now you want to commit us into another ₦30.2 trillion. That will bring the total of our debt to almost ₦200 trillion. You know what that means?” he asked.

Okonkwo further argued that the proposed borrowing would place an additional burden on ordinary Nigerians, many of whom, he claimed, had limited savings and continued to face inadequate public infrastructure and electricity supply. “They say that it is less than 5% of Nigerians that have up to ₦500,000 in their bank account. When you take the debt to ₦200 trillion, you have made every Nigerian to be owing ₦1 million,” he said.

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