Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and presidential contender for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023, has asked the federal government to encourage more public-private partnerships when funding crucial projects in order to limit the rate of debt buildup.
In a statement released on Friday, Atiku said it is extremely concerning that the Federal Government's retained revenue was N310 billion less than the cost of repaying Nigeria's debt in the first quarter of the year.
According to the Waziri Adamawa, the deed must violate all accepted benchmarks for a debt's ability to be sustained.
The former vice president questioned President Muhammadu Buhari's leadership's ability to run the nation.
He claimed that the Federal Government, which is run by the All Progressives Congress (APC), had put Nigeria's macroeconomic stability at additional risk.
The PDP's nominee for president in 2023 expressed worry that current government's economic policies had put "Nigeria at greater risk of financial stability difficulties as we move from a medium risk of debt distress to a high risk of debt distress."
He said, "I had cautioned on multiple occasions that not only is the fiscal cost of government's reckless borrowing so huge, but has even bigger opportunity costs as we forego expenditures in important sectors, including education, health, and other fundamental services.
The former vice president expressed concern that this would be harmful to Nigeria's long-term development.
He demanded that "all loaned funds should be reviewed to make sure they are being used more wisely." In particular, the government must make sure that all borrowed money goes to high-priority infrastructure projects that will develop the economy sustainably by bringing in revenue and increasing output.
The country's debt strategy should be reviewed, with a concentration on concessional and semi-concessional sources that have lower interest rates and relatively long maturities, according to his additional advice. The amount of short-dated debt instruments that the government issues must be decreased.
"Moves should be made to increase the effectiveness of its spending and significantly reduce needless and inefficient spending."