Peter Obi Criticizes Tinubu Administration for Excessive Borrowing, Calling It “Proof of Imprudent Governance”

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration for what he calls excessive borrowing.

In a post on his verified X account on Tuesday, Obi said the continuous loan collection demonstrates “imprudent governance.”

He argued that Tinubu’s government has engaged in “remarkably imprudent borrowing,” pushing Nigeria’s total debt to about N200 trillion.

Obi noted that this figure represents an increase of more than N100 trillion in just three years, compared with the roughly N49 trillion accumulated during President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight‑year tenure, which would have projected to around N80 trillion.

He added that as millions of Nigerians confront the shock of the current administration’s unsustainable debt, the problem is worsened by the government’s reckless borrowing and a lack of accountability and transparency in how the funds are used.

“Excessive borrowing without accountability is a further affirmation of imprudent governance,” Obi wrote.

The data from the Federation’s Budget Office shows that the Tinubu government borrowed N11.89 trillion in the first three quarters of 2025 (January to September), exceeding the planned borrowing target of N10.34 trillion by about N1.54 trillion.

“Under a responsible and accountable government, such an overshoot would require rigorous scrutiny and explanation from relevant governmental bodies. Regrettably, this is not the reality under the current administration,” Obi said.

He said the most disturbing aspect of the financial management fiasco under Tinubu is the absence of any explanation or information on how the surplus was utilized or deployed.

“The question that Nigerians are rightly asking and deserve an answer to is what happened to the balance? Was it deployed for recurrent expenditure/consumption, for the entertainment of guests to Aso Rock, or transferred to the Renewed Hope Agenda 2027 Election Campaign Fund? Nigerians deserve an answer on how our economy and resources are most unpatriotically managed,” he wrote.