Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has slammed President Bola Tinubu’s addiction for “reckless and dangerous borrowing”, accusing the president of mortgaging the future of unborn Nigerians.

“The announcement by the Tinubu-led APC government to pursue fresh external and domestic loans is a reckless and dangerous move that threatens the future of Nigeria and generations yet unborn,” Mr Abubakar said in a statement on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Mr Tinubu wrote to the National Assembly requesting legislative approval for several new loans totalling N40.5 trillion amid a worsening economic climate in the country.

Mr Abubakar expressed concern that the borrowing spree would increase our total public debt from ₦144.7 trillion to a staggering ₦183 trillion.

The former vice president condemned Mr Tinubu for increasing the country’s debt since he assumed office, lamenting public debt had ballooned by 1,048%, from ₦12.6 trillion to ₦144.7 trillion.

“Since President @officialABAT assumed office in 2023, public debt has jumped by 65.6%. Under the APC-led administration since 2015, public debt has ballooned by 1,048%, from ₦12.6 trillion to ₦144.7 trillion. The debt-to-GDP ratio has exceeded 50%,” said Mr Abubakar.

Mr Abubakar described the entrenched borrowing under the APC-led administration as unsustainable, accusing Mr Tinubu of turning Nigeria’s public finance into a Ponzi scheme.

The former vice president noted, “This is not just unsustainable — it is immoral. The Tinubu administration is borrowing money not for development but to service existing loans, fueling a debt spiral that leaves nothing for infrastructure, education, healthcare, or jobs.

“This addiction to borrowing, entrenched under the APC-led administration and now accelerated by President Tinubu, has turned public finance into a Ponzi scheme — borrowing to pay debt, then borrowing again to pay interest. Nigeria is now caught in a vicious cycle that mortgages the future to pay for the past.”

Mr Abubakar demanded an immediate discontinuation of borrowing, warning Mr Tinubu against turning the country into debt slavery.

“We warn that this is economic sabotage in plain sight. We demand that this reckless borrowing plan be halted immediately. We call on lawmakers, civil society organisations, the media, and the international community to take urgent action to stop this looming catastrophe. Nigeria must not be sold into debt slavery,” the former vice president warned.

However, Mr Tinubu on Thursday boasted that his administration’s policies had significantly improved Nigeria’s debt position, insisting that his administration had also paid off IMF obligations and increased external reserves by 500 per cent.

“Our debt position is improving,” Mr Tinubu said in a nationwide broadcast to mark his two years in office. “While foreign exchange revaluation pushed our debt-to-GDP ratio to around 53%, our debt service-to-revenue ratio dropped from nearly 100% in 2022 to under 40% by 2024. We paid off our IMF obligations and grew our net external reserves by almost 500% from $4 billion in 2023 to over $23 billion by the end of 2024.”