The African Democratic Congress on Sunday condemned what it described as the “fiscal vandalism” of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, following the National Assembly’s approval of an additional $21bn in foreign loans.

The party said the new borrowing spree could drive Nigeria’s public debt beyond N200trn by the end of 2025 — without any visible economic gains to show for it.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC accused Tinubu of accelerating Nigeria’s descent into a debt trap far worse than what the country experienced under his predecessor.

“What Nigerians are witnessing, following the approval of a fresh $21 billion in foreign loans, is nothing short of a calculated decision to mortgage the country’s future just to cover up the failures of today,” the party stated.

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Citing official data, the ADC argued that under former President Muhammadu Buhari, the country borrowed an average of N4.7trn annually.

However, borrowing under the Tinubu administration has skyrocketed to N49.8trn per year.

“In just two years, this administration has borrowed more than ten times what Buhari borrowed in the same timeframe,” the statement said.

“At this rate, Nigeria’s total public debt will crash through N200trn before the end of the year. We are speeding toward a financial cliff, and those in charge seem to have no brakes.”

While defenders of the Tinubu government have claimed the current borrowing figures appear smaller in dollar terms—$1.7bn annually compared to Buhari’s $4.15 billion—the ADC dismissed such arguments, pointing instead to the devastating impact of currency devaluation.

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“With the naira now in free fall, again thanks to this administration’s poor policy choices, these same loans are costing the country far more,” the statement read.

“When converted to naira, Tinubu’s foreign borrowing amounts to N25.5trn every year, more than Buhari’s annual average of N2.2trn.”

The opposition party claimed that since the APC assumed power in 2015, Nigeria’s public debt has ballooned from N12.6trn to over N149trn in 2025, with over $35bn borrowed from external lenders alone in the last decade.

“Our debt to the World Bank has tripled. What we owe in Eurobonds has grown eleven times over. And now, this government wants to borrow even more, pushing our foreign debt ceiling to $67bn.”

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The ADC expressed concern that this growing mountain of debt has not translated into improved infrastructure or services.

“The debts have continued to mount, but infrastructures have remained poor, universities are still grossly underfunded, hospitals are still ill-equipped, and the electricity supply is as poor as ever. So, what exactly are these loans used for?” it queried.

“This is the question that Nigerians expect the National Assembly to ask. Instead, it has continued to approve these loans without asking the hard questions, without demanding a plan, and without standing up for the Nigerian people.”

The party cited data from the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria to further highlight the impact of excessive borrowing, saying small businesses now struggle to access credit, while investors are losing confidence and leaving the market.

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“And because over 60 per cent of our national income is now used to service debt, the government is turning to ordinary Nigerian families and taxing them beyond their limits.”

The ADC also faulted the government for borrowing more even after the recent naira devaluation, arguing that such a move should ordinarily reduce the need for external loans.

Consequently, the party demanded full transparency regarding all loans taken since 2015.

“The ADC hereby demands a full disclosure of all loan agreements signed over the past ten years by the APC and the Tinubu government. Nigerians have a right to know the terms, interest rates, payment timelines, and final recipients of the loans.”

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It further urged President Tinubu to end what it called “fiscal recklessness” and focus instead on meaningful economic reforms.

“We also call on President Tinubu to put an end to this fiscal recklessness and focus instead on meaningful reform by investing wisely and spending responsibly. The era of borrowing to cover policy failures must come to an end,” the statement concluded.

Efforts to get the reactions of Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information, Bayo Onanuga and the Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, were unsuccessful.

As of the time of filing this report, they could still not be reached.

A social media expert and political commentator, Japheth Joshua Omojuwa, has said President Bola Tinubu’s record of never losing an election is a curse.

Omojuwa explained that such a record is a curse for Tinubu because he can be beaten in 2027 if he dwells too much on it.

He disclosed this while featuring on Mic One podcast with Seun Okinbaloye.

The political commentator said if Tinubu fails to stabilize the economy and ensure his number adds up politically, he would be defeated in 2027.

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He said: “Anytime somebody goes into the ring he can be beaten. I’m a boxing fan and if you get into that ring, you can be beaten.

“Anybody can be beaten. If President Tinubu doesn’t ensure that the Nigerian economy is stable and if he doesn’t do his numbers well with respect to the politics, they will beat him.

“And that’s why he is balancing governance with politics because he knows that anybody can be beaten.

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“Tinubu has never lost an election, that’s a gift and a curse – a gift because it gives you a sense of invincibility and it’s a curse because if you dwell too much on it, you can get knocked out by a sucker punch.

“Forget Tinubu, anybody who is on the throne is a candidate to beat because people think that it’s about the individual. Go and check the design throughout history, incumbents always win reelection.

“His enemies, those who don’t like him and want to beat him have to think with this understanding in mind that just by the design of incumbency, he is in an advantageous position, by his own personal history of election; he brings out that advantage.”

Nigerian political commentator and social media expert, Japheth Joshua Omojuwa, has given reasons why he believes strongly that Peter Obi will never be President.

Omojuwa, during an interview on Mic On Podcast, maintained his confident declaration that Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, will never become Nigeria’s president.

Asked if his declaration is not an overtly absolute verdict in a democratic setting known for its surprises, especially when the same system once brought an opposition candidate, late former President Muhammadu Buhari, to power after three failed attempts, Omojuwa explained that the former Anambra State governor is still part of the old system.

“The question intentionally pretends that I didn’t give the reason why he [Obi] wouldn’t be president,” he said.

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“I’m going to give [reason]. I said that he wouldn’t become president on account of certain things. And the funny thing is, even people that were allies with him have been on your podcast, and they’ve also more or less said the same thing in different ways.

“There’s a philosopher that says that you cannot continue to do the same thing and expect a different result.

“And Peter Obi, he knows that too. You know why he has compromised his position. So Peter Obi was of the system, a beneficiary of the system of the old order.

“He was governor of Anambra State under APGA. By the time he left, he stopped being governor, he desperately wanted to become a minister. He tried to become aviation minister. It didn’t work out.

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“Eventually, Jonathan just made him chairman of the SEC. Anyway, the man [Jonathan] was on his way out. I think this was April 2015, and he still took it, right? It took Buhari to fire him as Chairman of SEC.

“Eventually, he ran as Atiku’s vice presidential candidate, a full-blooded PDP member, becoming a presidential candidate under, you know, running under a PDP ticket.

“From there, he then becomes born again. Under this new political system, the Labour Party, he became completely born again, a different, fresh Nigerian that had never been part of the old order.

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“He enjoyed some miraculous change and perception, and unfortunately for him, that did not carry into the presidency.

“And then he comes back and says, what changed? What do I need to change? What has he been doing? He’s been going to be with, in bed with the same people that he said were the structure of criminality. He’s shaking hands with them, he’s sitting with them, he’s signing his names with them.

“Now, I use the word compromise, but it’s not compromise. He’s gone back exactly where he actually has always been.”