The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the National Assembly of mortgaging Nigeria’s future by endorsing what it described as President Bola Tinubu’s “unchecked borrowing spree”.
In a statement on Tuesday signed by Bolaji Abdullahi, its national publicity secretary, the ADC criticised Speaker Tajudeen Abbas for retracting his earlier remarks on Nigeria’s debt profile.
The party said Abbas’s initial admission that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio had risen to 52 percent was a “rare moment of honesty” but added that his retraction showed “political cowardice and legislative complicity”.
“The Speaker’s statement offered a momentary flicker of the truth, only to be quickly doused by political expediency,” the ADC said.
“Rather than standing by his remarks and on the side of the people, he chose to play safe. This, to us, is not only disappointing but troubling.”
The ADC said the Tinubu administration has continued to pile up debts despite assurances that borrowing had ended, citing the government’s recent move to seek a $1.75 billion World Bank loan.
“What has stood out in the entire saga of unprecedented debt accumulation is the complicity of the 10th National Assembly, which, by every indication, has become the most compliant legislature in our recent history,” Abdullahi said.
The opposition party argued that the principle of checks and balances had been abandoned, adding that the national assembly now operates as “a conveyor belt for executive wishes”.
“The Speaker was right the first time — our debt is out of control, and our children’s future is being written in red ink,” the ADC said.
The party demanded fiscal discipline, transparency, and public debate on all borrowing plans, while calling for job creation and domestic resource mobilisation to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on loans.