Presidency tackles Obi over ‘cancer’ remark on borrowing
The Presidency yesterday knocked former Anambra governor Peter Obi, over his criticisms of the Federal Government’s borrowing profile. It dismissed his claims as misleading and lacking economic depth. Special Adviser
- ’Loans funding infrastructure, not consumption’
The Presidency yesterday knocked former Anambra governor Peter Obi, over his criticisms of the Federal Government’s borrowing profile.
It dismissed his claims as misleading and lacking economic depth.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, accused Obi of resorting to “demagoguery” and emotional rhetoric, insisting that borrowing under the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deliberate, strategic and tied to infrastructure development.
“Every sovereign nation borrows, and as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rightly said, borrowing is not leprosy,” Onanuga said in a reaction posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.
He argued that Obi’s characterisation of borrowing as a “killer cancer” betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of public finance, stressing that access to both domestic and international credit markets is a mark of economic credibility, not weakness.
According to the presidential aide, the Tinubu administration has been disciplined in deploying borrowed funds to critical sectors that will stimulate growth, create jobs and expand the country’s productive capacity, rather than funding consumption.
He challenged Obi to move beyond alarmist narratives and engage in what he described as rational and fact-based economic debate.
The response followed Obi’s earlier warning that Nigeria’s rising debt profile could become “a killer cancer” if not tied to productive investments.
The former Anambra State governor had argued that borrowing without clear economic returns poses grave risks to national stability, warning that loans used for consumption erode a country’s fiscal health and autonomy.
“Borrowing for consumption slowly eats away at the health, reputation and autonomy of a nation,” Obi said, adding that Nigeria’s problem was not just debt, but “debt without productivity.”
He also urged strict adherence to the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, which mandates clear justification and cost-benefit analysis for all borrowings.
Obi expressed concern over Nigeria’s debt servicing burden, arguing that the country’s fiscal outlook should be assessed more by its ability to service debt than by its debt-to-GDP ratio.
“What matters is not debt-to-GDP as much as debt-to-debt servicing ratio, because the latter constrains our capacity to finance sectors that drive human development and economic growth,” he said.
However, the Presidency maintained that such arguments ignore the broader context of Nigeria’s development needs, reiterating that the current administration’s borrowing strategy is anchored on long-term economic expansion and infrastructure renewal.
