Atiku Abubakar Critiques Tinubu's Borrowing Amid Oil Windfall

On Sunday, Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its unprecedented domestic borrowing, which he claims contradicts the significant windfall from high international crude oil prices. In a statement from his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku highlighted that the Federal Government raised about N5 trillion from the domestic bond market in the first half of 2023, which is nearly 80% of the total borrowed in the same period of 2022.

He pointed out that while the 2023 Appropriation Act set a crude oil benchmark at $64.84 per barrel, the average price of Brent crude has been around $92 per barrel, leading to an estimated additional revenue of $5.76 billion, or about N7.98 trillion, over a 135-day period. Atiku demanded transparency regarding this windfall, questioning the government's heavy borrowing despite increased oil revenues and lamented the ongoing hardship faced by Nigerians.