Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has reacted to the reports of Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar that Nigeria is in an economic jeopardy, based on its debt profile.
Atiku Abubakar had said that Buhari’s administration was doing very little to kick the country out of poverty, accusing them of using borrowed monies for their personal use.
Reaction to the statement however, Lai Mohammed said that article was not privy to a lot of information and it was not a nice place to speak about the debt profile of the country.
“There is no doubt that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar loves our country and wishes it well, otherwise he would not have sustained his serial quest for the country’s highest position.
“One can only hope that his resort to the use of such words as ‘precipice’, ‘foreclosure’ and ‘economic ruin’ does not reflect anything but best wishes for the country at this time.
Read more: We Are Robbing Our Children To Pay For Our Greed Atiku Writes On Nigeria’s Financial Crisis
“We are also not able to ascertain the source of the first quarter figures of N943.12 billion for debt servicing and N950.56 billion for retained revenue, which he also quoted.
“One of the reasons why debt service to revenue is high is because revenue generation in Nigeria has been low, with over-dependence on the oil sector.
“This is corroborated by the fact that the ratio of Nigeria’s tax revenue to GDP is one of the lowest in the world at about 6%.
The minister said the borrowings of the federal government is aimed at revamping the country’s infrastructure.
“We have said that in the face of massive infrastructural decay, no responsible government will sit by and do nothing.
“The loans for the educational sector will contribute to the development of our human capital while the loans for the agricultural sector will help the move to diversify the economy.”
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