Nigeria’s ex President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has warned the Federal Government of impending bankruptcy while expressing deep concern about Nigeria’s current debt profile.
While speaking at the “Why I am Alive” campaign celebration in Lagos, Obasanjo disclosed in his keynote address that the country’s external debt had grown to 700% from $10.32 billion in 2015 to $81.2.74 billion in 2019.
Nigeria was committing half of its foreign earnings to servicing its current level of indebtedness.
“Such a situation talks about impending bankruptcy. No entity can survive while devoting 50% of its revenue to debt servicing,”Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo further explained that the country’s current budget has Nigeria spending 25% on debt servicing, which is not the country’s total earning, as a lot of it is also borrowing. Simply put, we are borrowing to service what we have borrowed and yet we are borrowing more, the Guardian reported.
“I do not need the brain of any genius to conclude that those who use statistics to dig us deeper into debt are our enemies. Statistics can be used to serve any purpose, and that is why Winston Churchill talked of lies, damn lies and statistics, meaning statistics can be made master of lies,” Obasanjo said.