Professor Osinbajo warns that Nigeria has $60bn worth of debt eating up 21% of budget

VICE president-elect Professor Yemi Osinbajo has expressed concern that the incoming All Progressives Congress (APC) government will inherit debts of $60bn and a 2015 debt-serving bill of N953.6bn ($3.05bn) representing 21% of this year’s budget.

 

Speaking yesterday at a two-day seminar designed to map the way forward for the new government when it takes over on May 29, Professor Osinbajo said the Buhari government will inherit the worst economy ever in Nigeria's history. He noted that an estimated 110m out of the nation’s over 170m population, were living in extreme poverty while the largest chunk of the benefits of the nation’s wealth was going into the pockets of a small percentage of the populace.

 

According to Professor Osinbajo, the nation’s dwindling oil revenues has made it difficult for 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states to pay salaries. At the moment, most of Nigeria's states owe their staff salary arrears, with some owing as much as a year's salaries.

 

Professor Osinbajo said: “We are concerned that our economy is currently in perhaps its worst moment in history as local and international debts stand at $60bn. Our debt servicing bill for 2015 is N953.6bn, which is 21% of our budget and on account of severely dwindled resources, over two-thirds of the states in Nigeria owe salaries.

 

“Federal institutions are not in much better shape, as today, the nation borrows to fund recurrent expenditure. However, the manifesto of the APC offers a vision of shared prosperity and socio-economic inclusion for all Nigerians that leaves no one behind in the pursuit of a prosperous and fulfilling life.”

 

He added that the goal of the policy dialogue is to interrogate the positions and propositions before a wider audience and to launch a robust public conversation on policy directions and priorities that would help inform the incoming administration’s approach in the next four years. Professor Osinbajo explained that the forum exemplifies the sort of consultative and consensual approach to policy-making that the APC and the new administration intend to adopt when in office.

 

Professor Osinbajo also declared that the dialogue intended to explore a wide range of policy priorities including the diversification of the economy in the wake of dwindling oil revenues. To achieve this, he said, the administration would engender job-led growth through the revitalisation of the agricultural sector in pursuit of job creation and food security and improving the regulatory frameworks in the most strategic sphere of economic activity.