Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticized President Bola Tinubu’s request for a $516 million foreign loan to fund the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway. Mr. Atiku issued the warning on Thursday through his senior special assistant, Phrank Shaibu, as Nigerians debated the country’s growing debt burden.
Mr. Atiku stated that infrastructure development remains necessary for national integration. However, he stressed that noble intentions cannot justify reckless fiscal decisions. He argued that Nigeria must not borrow blindly in the name of development.
“At a time when Nigeria is already groaning under the weight of unsustainable debt, the resort to yet another foreign loan without transparent terms, clear cost-benefit analysis, and a credible repayment framework raises profound questions about prudence and accountability,” Mr. Atiku stated.
He added that Nigerians deserve sustainable development not mortgaged against their future. “What Nigerians expect is not just ambitious projects, but responsible financing,” he noted. “Development must not become a euphemism for deepening debt traps that generations yet unborn will be forced to repay.”
Mr. Atiku also raised concerns about the project’s award process. He referenced the controversy surrounding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
“Nigerians have not forgotten the serious questions surrounding the opaque award process of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway where due process, competitive bidding, and value-for-money considerations were widely called into question,” he warned. “We must not replicate such a troubling precedent.”
Mr. Atiku urged the National Assembly to scrutinize the loan request thoroughly. “Nigeria must build, but Nigeria must not borrow blindly,” he concluded. “Progress anchored on opacity and debt accumulation is neither progress nor leadership, it is postponement of crisis.”
