Huge Debt Servicing Path To Destruction, Says Tinubu

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu says the country is on the path of economic destruction if it continues to use a huge part of its revenue to service debt.

President Tinubu said over 90 percent of Nigeria’s total revenue is used to service its huge debts.

“Can we continue to service external debts with 90% of our revenue? It is a path to destruction. It is not sustainable,” Tinubu said on Sunday.

But the Debt Management Office, DMO, had earlier claimed that 73.5 percen of the nation’s revenue is used to service debts.

Nigeria’s total debt, DMO, said in June this year has risen to N49. 85 trillion or $108.30 billion.

The huge amount used in servicing foreign and local debts, according to economic analysts has led to paucity of funds on the part of the government, limiting its capacity to provide critical infrastructure in the country.

President Tinubu said the ongoing reforms by his government are necessary to reverse the situation.

The president’s position is contained in a statement signed on Sunday by Ajuli Ngelale, the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity.

Ngelale said the president made the comment while declaring open the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.

According to the president, “We must make the very difficult changes that are necessary for our country to get up from slumber and be respected among the great nations of the world.

“We cannot have the country we desire without the reforms we have initiated. It is painful at the beginning, in the short and medium term, but we must do what we have to do to take this nation to its great destiny. It is not about you and it is not about me. It is about our generations yet unborn, for whom we must bequeath a great and prosperous country.”