FG silent on Adeboye’s bankruptcy comment
The federal government has become silent on the broadside from Pastor Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
The respected cleric had lamented Nigeria’s continued borrowing and burgeoning debt profile, suggesting the country might be heading into bankruptcy.
The FG, which is known to be intolerant of criticisms particularly on its handling of the nation’s economy, is yet to give a comment.
Adeboye had said during his church’s Sunday thanksgiving service that Nigeria is “moving steadily towards bankruptcy”.
“80 per cent of what should have been the income of a nation is going into the hands of some people. That’s a lot of money, men!” said an alarmed Pastor Adeboye.
“It is open secret, undenied, that more than 90 per cent of our annual income, of the money we get, from the leftover of the oil that was stolen. We are using it to pay the interest of the money we have already borrowed. And then, it is in the news, we are borrowing more!” Pastor Adeboye emphasised in an alarming tone.
“According to a friend of mine, we are moving steadily into bankruptcy,” continued the RCCG overseer.
The RCCG overseer then said he wasn’t excited by the upcoming 2023 general elections as there were pertinent questions to tackle before the expiration of Mr Buhari’s tenure.
“So, you can see the reason I’m not thinking of 2023. Maybe, that’s why God has not spoken to me about it because there is a lot to deal with now.”
Nigeria’s debt has risen the most under Mr Buhari, whose notorious penchant for borrowing is three times more than all the past administrations combined.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure saw a drastic reduction in the nation’s foreign debt. Mr Obasanjo met a foreign debt burden of $28 billion but reduced it to $2.11 billion before leaving.
His successor, Umaru Musa Yaradua, incurred $1.39 billion, while Goodluck Jonathan incurred an additional $3.8 billion during his tenure, bringing the nation’s debt to $7.3 billion as of 2015.
However, Buhari, has acquired a whopping $21.27 billion loan, taking Nigeria’s external debt to an all-time high of $28.57 billion as of December 2020.
