By Ayo Kehinde
Former Vice President of Nigeria and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar being received by the Chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees, Sen. Walid Jibrin on arrival for the party’s BOT meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Federal Government to keep proper accounting and maintain sound financial policies that would not further plunge the country into a debt trap
Recalling a warning he gave on June 16, 2020, that the country’s debts have reached unsustainable levels, consuming over 90 per cent of revenue in debt servicing, he has again sounded the alarm that the country may go into insolvency.
Quoting from that last year warning, he said; ‘We are on a precipice and if revenue figures do not rise quickly, Nigeria risks a situation where revenue cannot even sustain its debt servicing obligations. Meaning that we may become insolvent and our creditors may foreclose on us, as has occurred in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.’
“I also further said: ‘As part of an administration that paid off Nigeria’s entire foreign debt, I am concerned about the unprecedented increase in our debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio and debt-to-revenue ratio. The alarm I sounded last year is now sounding louder.’
“Thereafter, solutions were offered to the government in power as a way out of the impending economic crisis.
“To my surprise, the government called a press conference and attacked my person for raising the alarm and denied what was obvious.
“Interestingly, yesterday, (Thursday, August 26, 2021) the Budget Office of the same administration released a statement to the effect that Nigeria made ₦2. 23 trillion revenue in the first half of 2021, and spent ₦2.02 trillion on debt servicing, representing 90.58 per cent of National revenue in the period under review (H1).
“Although this clearly vindicates me, I have no joy that things have gotten to this stage.
“Once again, I call on the government to revisit the solutions provided in my June 16, 2020 statement and other interventions made earlier by other patriotic Nigerians and my humble self. Nigeria is the only country we have, and we must all do everything possible, irrespective of party affiliation, to keep our nation financially solvent for future generations.”
