According to Labour Party Presidential candidate — Peter Obi, all loans made since 2015 to boost the national economy have been a waste of money.
Speaking at the Chatham House in London on Monday, the former Anambra State Governor made this claim.
In his analysis of Nigeria’s rising debt, Obi claimed that the nation had successfully increased its debt from N15 trillion in 2015 to N75 trillion at present. He also claimed that borrowing for consumption was the cause of the debt’s sharp increase, and that the entire sum was “thrown away.”
Peter Obi said: “There’s nothing wrong in borrowing. Borrowing is legitimate and every government I’ve studied in the world borrows, even Britain as we speak owes 70 per cent of their GDP. Every government I know lives on borrowing.
“Norway, with $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth, is owing. The economies of the world, even the biggest economy in the world, America, is owing almost 100 per cent of their GDP. The second-largest economy, China, is owing almost 70 per cent, while Japan is owing over 230 per cent of their GDP. But let me tell you the difference.
“Japan is owing 230 per cent of their GDP but they invested the money to save their economy and even with that, Japan is still the largest holder of the US treasuries, so there’s something they can fall back on. So borrowing is not wrong.
“But what has happened is that when you borrow for consumption, you have a crisis. Nigeria in 2015 had a per capita income of $2,500, we were owing about N15tn. Today, with central bank’s ways and means, we are owing about N75tn, so we have grown that debt profile by over 400 per cent. That means that the money we borrowed was thrown away.”
Obi said that if elected, he would battle corruption to make sure that Nigerians were proud to retain their passports and that international investment flourished there.
“We will fight and stop corruption. The first thing about stopping corruption is yourself, if you’re not involved, your wife, family is not involved, those around you are not involved, then you will lose it by over 50 per cent. We are committed, we can’t disappoint these youths, and we must build a new Nigeria.
“Investors will come back, those who left and those who are leaving will come back, we want to bring them back. Nigerians are prepared to come back if they can find that they have a country to go back to. This green passport, Nigerians must be proud to use it again,” he said.
