Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his assertion that borrowing is not leprosy, dismissing the president’s position as “absolute nonsense”.
Obasanjo made the remarks on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while speaking at the Ajibosin Platform, a public forum themed “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Solve Grassroots Problems and Accelerate National Development.”
The former president’s criticism follows Tinubu’s declaration in April that his administration would continue to borrow money whenever necessary, arguing that borrowing should not automatically be regarded as a negative practice.
Tinubu made the statement at the State House during a meeting with a delegation of Plateau State leaders led by Governor Caleb Mutfwang and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nentawe Yilwatda.
Defending his administration’s borrowing policy, the president had said: “If we have to borrow, we borrow. Borrowing is not leprosy; we just have to work hard to be able to pay for it.”
However, Obasanjo has taken issue with the president’s position, describing the justification for continued borrowing as “absolute nonsense”.
Tinubu’s comments came against the backdrop of growing public concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt profile and the increasing proportion of government revenue allocated to servicing existing debts.
The debate over government borrowing has continued to attract attention, particularly amid concerns about the country’s fiscal sustainability, debt obligations and the resources available for critical national development projects.
