Cost of servicing debts surpass revenue by N310billion, Atiku warned in 2019

The Muhammadu Buhari Government has released a four-month fiscal performance report for 2022.

The report revealed that the federal government’s total revenue for the period was N1.63 trillion, while debt servicing gulped N1.94 trillion.

You would recall that, in 2019, during my Founder’s Day lecture at the American University of Nigeria, Yola, former vice-president and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar had raised an alarm over the accumulation of debts by the federal government.

Atiku had warned the Muhammadu Buhari-led government that “endless borrowing will lead to endless sorrowing”.

He had then pointed out that it is an act of irresponsibility to take further loans, asking what were the funds borrowed before used for?

You would further recall that Atiku, had quoted John Quincy Adams, who once said, “There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.”

According to the recent report released by the Federal Government, the cost of servicing debt surpassed revenue by N310 billion in the first four months of 2022.

Sequel to this, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has called for urgent action to address revenue underperformance and expenditure efficiency at national and sub-national levels.