Those in support of borrowings are parasites — Sani

Senator Shehu Sani 

Shehu Sani, former Kaduna Central Senator, has reacted to a request President Muhammadu Buhari sent to the  national assembly seeking for the approval of $30 billion loan.

President Buhari had first forwarded the request captured in the federal government’s 2016-2018 external borrowing plan to the upper legislative chamber in 2016.

After failing to secure their approval, he sent it to the ninth assembly on Thursday, asking the lawmakers to approve the loan which he said is “critical to the delivery of the government’s policies and programmes”.

But Sani, who was the former Chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, said that the 8th senate under Senate President Bukola Saraki turned down the president's request to borrow $30 billion loan in order to save Nigeria from sinking.



Sani in a statement said: “We turned down the FG loan request for 30 Billion to save Nigeria from sinking into the dark gully of a perpetual debt trap. We don’t want our country to be recolonized by creditor banks.

“Our external debt in 2015 was $10.32 Billion and it escalated to $22.08 in the second quarter this year, which is 114 per cent, if we had approved that loan request, our external debt could have catapulted to over $52 Billion and that is not sustainable.”




The former lawmaker warned that With the current escalation of borrowing, “Nigeria will be walking into debt Slavery and move from landlords to tenants in our country.

“They will always tell you that even America is borrowing and I don’t know how rational is it to keep on borrowing because Another country is borrowing.


“If we keep listening to Bankers and contractors we will keep borrowing and burying ourselves and leave behind for our children a legacy of debt burden.

“Loans are not charities. Most of those encouraging more borrowing are parasitic consultants, Commission agents, rent-seeking fronts and contractors.”