Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the Federal Government of engaging in what he described as a “racket dressed up as reform” by repeatedly borrowing to settle debts in the power sector, questioning the whereabouts of previously raised funds and demanding a full public account before any fresh bond is issued.
Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Sunday, described the Federal Government’s latest plan to raise a bond that will increase the debt liability to N4tn to clear outstanding obligations in the electricity sector as “a scandalous display of fiscal recklessness, institutional dishonesty, and brazen contempt for public accountability.”
The African Democratic Congress presidential candidate said Nigerians were justified in demanding explanations from the administration of President Tinubu over what he called a recurring cycle of borrowing to address the same problem without disclosing how previous interventions were utilised.
“Nigerians have every right to be outraged by what is fast becoming a recurring cycle of borrowing, deception, and non-disclosure under the Tinubu administration,” the statement said.
According to Atiku, the government had on several occasions announced debt-clearing initiatives for the power sector, only for the liabilities to remain unresolved.
