COVID-19: FG’s $6.9bn borrowing plan delusory, says Atiku

.Knocks NASS members for taking delivery of luxury cars while nation goes aborrowing

.Seeks unconditional repatriation of remaining Abacha loot from Western world

The Federal Government has been cautioned that this is not the right time to set in motion plans to take a total $6.9 billion fresh monetary assistance from international financial institutions.

This is even as the Presidency was knocked for taking a wrong decision that could further cripple the nation’s ailing economy.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said finding ways to wriggle out of the economic effect of the global Covid -19 pandemic was not enough reasons for the Federal Government to borrow but to rather think out of the box to fix existing challenges.

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 presidential election gave this advice in an opinion statement titled: ‘What Africa Must Do To Mitigate the Damaging Effects of Corona Virus’, on Tuesday.

He said a situation where the Nigerian government always seeks outside funding, which, by the way has to be repaid if ever granted, displays an inadequacy in the thinking process of the leaders at the moment.

“The worst thing we can do now is to wring our hands and look to outsiders. Not now. The leadership in Abuja and the rest of Africa cannot afford to be lethargic while the rest of the world is scrambling to save what they can of their economies.

“So, other than asking for debt relief, what can we realistically do to protect ourselves from the type of economic collapse that could lead to social upheaval in Nigeria?”, he asked.

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According to him, with the global pandemic, the world as it stands today, is too preoccupied with its challenges to prioritise Africa, hence African nations have to prioritise themselves.

Atiku said: “The issue of Nigeria wanting to borrow $6.9 billion at this time shows the almost delusory state of our government. No one has that type of money to throw about.

“China and America, previously our two largest creditors, have taken hits to their economies to the tune of trillions of dollars. If they could, they would consider taking from us at this stage.

“Why is it that the Nigerian government is always quick to want to borrow at every instance? It shows a lazy mindset and an inability to take those sacrifices necessary to get the economy into shape”.

The former vice president lampooned federal lawmakers for their profligacy in the midst of national economy crisis.

He said: “Worse still it proves that we do not, as of yet, have the ability to think outside the box for genuine solutions. We cannot be looking to borrow huge sums at the same time our officials are taking delivery of foreign made luxury cars.

“We cannot be considered a serious country when we refuse to cut down on profligacy and instead seek outside help to fund our inefficiencies.

“Even in our own individual houses, when things get tight, the first thing we should do is cut down on unnecessary expenditure and then you look for creative ways to generate funds and develop our household economy, before we even seek outside funding.

 To navigate the murky global economic waters, the Turaki Adamawa asked the Nigerian government to start from where it has the most influence, the global oil industry.

“To save our economy, Nigeria must engage in immediate shuttle diplomacy to get Saudi Arabia and Russia to settle their differences and end the price war that is affecting the price of oil almost as much as the pandemic.

“The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel is more vulnerable than Russia right now. Yes, Russia is also vulnerable, but so are we. Russia has an almost stable gas market in Europe. We do not. So we are much more vulnerable.

“This price war is not just affecting Nigeria and Angola badly, it is also affecting the valuation of ARAMCO and delaying vital decisions, which are troubling signs.

“Nigeria must bring her weight (like we had done in the past) to bear to force an early cessation of hostilities so that oil prices could start looking up.

“And secondly, we must insist that the Abacha loots held back by various Western governments must be immediately and unconditionally returned to Nigeria.

“In Nigeria, it is already clear that we must abandon the 2020 budget and come up with a more realistic budget. Our oil benchmark is way off the mark. And we are certainly no longer in a position to budget ₦100 billion plus for our legislatures and almost ₦50 billion for the Presidency (in truth, we were never in a position to do that).

To the leadership of the country, he said “we are at a crossroads, and we need to think and act our way into taking the right road. History will forgive us if we make the wrong decisions, but it certainly will not forgive us if we take no decisions in the misguided belief that others will save us.

“If Nigeria does not save herself in this season of a global emergency, we may find that a new world order will emerge and we will no longer be the Giant of Africa. We may not even be the Giant of West Africa if we do not take decisive action immediately.

Speaking on the level of damage wrecked by Covid -19 to the world’s economy, he advised African leaders to unite together and seek debt forgiveness, as a direct consequence of the impact of this pandemic on their economies, adding that this crisis should force a commonality of purpose in Africa.

He further charged African nations not to give in to panic by the doomsday scenarios being painted by analysts.

 “This is the time for every money made in Africa to stay in Africa. We have hospitals to build. We have economies to reboot. We have citizens to care for and return to work. We certainly should not be sending money out of Africa and into Asia and the West. Not now and not for the foreseeable future”, he said.