YPP urges NASS to suspend Tinubu’s $20.5bn loan

By John Alechenu, Abuja The presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Architect Peter Agada, has urged the National Assembly to suspend consideration of President Bola Tinubu’s latest external borrowing request until after the 2027 general elections. Agada made the call in Abuja on Wednesday in reaction to Tinubu’s letter to Senate President Godswill Akpabio seeking approval for $20. 52 billion and €1. 045 billion in supplementary external borrowing for 2026 and 2027. He said the timing of the request, less than 110 days before the elections, raised concerns, particularly with Nigeria’s public debt standing at ₦166. 79 trillion as of June 2026. “Now we want to add another $21. 7bn — less than 110 days to the 2027 general election. “For three years, the Federal Government has been unable to fully finance its budget. Capital performance is below 40 per cent.

“Contractors are being owed. Yet we are borrowing more. In architecture, you don’t borrow to build a new house when you have not roofed the old one,” he said. The YPP candidate questioned why the government continued to seek substantial loans despite the removal of the petrol subsidy and the floating of the naira, which he said had significantly increased government revenue. “Where did the subsidy savings go? This is the question Emir Sanusi and other leaders have been asking,” he said. Agada also questioned what tangible results the proposed borrowing could deliver within the remaining period before the elections, given the time required to implement major infrastructure projects. “If you approve $20. 5bn today, can you complete any power, transport, health or education project in 100 days? No. So what will this money actually do? Pay contractors who are party financiers? Fund election logistics? ” he…