Senator Victor Umeh has demanded answers over the Federal Government’s handling of previous loans, questioning why contractors remain unpaid despite repeated borrowings to finance government budgets.
Umeh, who represents Anambra Central Senatorial District, raised the concerns on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday while reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s request for legislative approval to borrow an additional $20.5 billion and €1.45 billion.
The senator challenged the rationale behind the fresh borrowing, arguing that previous loan approvals had failed to translate into full funding of government budgets and payment for capital projects.
“We have approved so much funds to be borrowed in the past, and on each occasion we’ve been told that this borrowing would be able to fund the budgets, and these budgets have remained unfunded up till this day,” Umeh said.
He expressed concern that three budgets were running concurrently while contractors executing capital projects were still awaiting payment.
“If you borrow to finance a budget and you are not able to finance that budget, where has the money gone to? That is the question in the lips of everybody,” he added.
Umeh also suggested that the latest borrowing proposal would likely secure approval in the National Assembly, arguing that opposition lawmakers could be outvoted by members of the ruling party.
Tinubu has requested the National Assembly’s approval for the Federal Government’s 2026–2027 supplementary external borrowing plan, valued at $20.5 billion and €1.45 billion.
The Federal Government says the proposed loans would fund critical infrastructure, agriculture, education and other priority sectors in line with its development agenda.
However, the request has intensified scrutiny of Nigeria’s borrowing plans, with questions mounting over the utilisation of previous loans, outstanding obligations to contractors and the country’s rising debt burden.
For Umeh, the central issue remains accountability: if previous loans were meant to fund government budgets, why are those budgets still struggling to meet their obligations?
Umeh Questions Tinubu’s Fresh $20.5bn Loan Bid
