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The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs) have come down hard on the Federal Government over its plan to obtain a fresh $1.75 billion loan from the World Bank, insisting that Nigeria does not need more debt but rather the recovery of looted public funds.
In a joint statement signed by Comrade James Ezema, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of CNPP, and Alhaji Ali Abacha, National Secretary of CNCSOs, the groups said they “view with alarm the recent disclosure that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is seeking fresh loans from the World Bank amounting to $1.75 billion despite unprecedented revenue collections within the last eight months.” They warned that the move “will not only undermine the government’s credibility but also plunge ordinary Nigerians into deeper suffering while eroding any hope for sustainable economic recovery.”
The coalition expressed deep concern about what it described as “the duplicity that now characterises the fiscal direction of this administration.” It recalled that “only days ago, Nigerians were told by the President himself that revenue targets for 2025 had already been surpassed ahead of schedule and that the country would no longer rely on borrowing to finance its budget.”
Backing up their argument with official figures, the statement stressed that “revenue performance between January and August 2025 stood at N20.59 trillion, representing an impressive 40.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2024.
“This is the highest revenue performance in recent history, largely driven by non-oil revenue which now accounts for seventy-five percent of total collections. If this is the case, why then should Nigeria be saddled with additional debt when the same government boasts of surplus revenue inflows?”
According to the groups, the reality is that “Nigeria does not have a revenue generation problem but a reckless looting, diversion, and mismanagement problem. The commonwealth of Nigerians is trapped in the private bank accounts of former and serving ministers, special advisers, political aides, cronies, and contractors who collude with public officials to shortchange the people.”
The CNPP and CNCSOs insisted that “instead of chasing more loans that will further enslave future generations, what the administration ought to be doing is to recover these stolen funds and return them to the Federation Account. Nigeria’s resources, if properly managed and recovered from corrupt politicians, are more than sufficient to offset all existing debts and still fund critical sectors of the economy.”
To that end, they called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “to urgently constitute a high-powered presidential judicial panel with the clear mandate to trace, audit, and recover looted public funds.” They said that “such a panel must thoroughly examine all loans secured by past administrations, investigate how they were deployed, expose the channels of misappropriation, and compel recovery into the public treasury.
“This is the only way to restore confidence, reduce the debt burden, and prove to Nigerians that this government is different from those before it. Anything less would amount to political deception and betrayal of the masses who are already suffocating under policies that have stripped them of their livelihoods.”
Turning to the plight of everyday citizens, the groups declared that “the realities of daily life in Nigeria today are harsh beyond measure.”
They recalled that “since the hasty and unplanned removal of fuel subsidy two years ago, the masses have been crushed by skyrocketing fuel costs which ripple through every aspect of life from food prices to transportation. Electricity tariffs have risen astronomically even as power supply remains epileptic, while citizens are compelled to buy prepaid meters at exorbitant costs even though these meters technically belong to distribution companies and not to the buyers.”
They noted that “new taxes and levies, including the five percent petroleum tax that will make Nigerian barber or hairdresser who buys N5,000.00 fuel to power their generators because of lack of electricity to pay N500.00 tax and the punitive N50 charge on every N10,000 transfer, weigh heavily on poor Nigerians who struggle to make ends meet. In a country where unemployment and underemployment are already endemic, these fiscal burdens amount to a direct assault on survival.”
The coalition painted a dire picture of the consequences, warning that “sudden deaths are becoming more common across the nation. Nigerians collapse daily under the weight of untreated illnesses, high blood pressure, hunger, and hopelessness. Families are disintegrating under economic pressure, while young people increasingly turn to financial crimes as desperate means of survival.”
They added that “thousands continue to flee the country in the so-called japa syndrome, depleting the nation of skilled professionals and creating a brain drain that further weakens our chances of economic recovery. This exodus of talent is not accidental but a direct consequence of policies that make life unbearable for hardworking citizens while rewarding corruption and waste at the top while embassies in Nigeria due to increasing cost of non-refundable visas application fees.”
The groups described continued borrowing “under these circumstances” as “reckless, insensitive, and indefensible.” They argued that “it is morally wrong for leaders who live in luxury, travel in private jets, and enjoy lavish allowances to continue enslaving the people with loans whose benefits never reach ordinary citizens. Debt servicing is already consuming the bulk of Nigeria’s revenues, leaving very little for capital investment. Each new loan contracted does not translate into jobs, infrastructure, or better living standards for the masses but rather fuels a cycle of waste, diversion, and repayment obligations that cripple the economy further.”
They therefore cautioned President Tinubu that “the path his administration is treading is unsustainable and dangerous. The solution to Nigeria’s fiscal challenges is not to borrow endlessly but to confront corruption frontally, recover stolen funds, cut wasteful expenditures, and invest honestly in sectors that generate jobs and growth. If the government continues to impose unbearable hardship while piling up debts, the patience of the masses will eventually run out, and history has shown that no government survives once the people lose their fear and decide to take their destiny into their own hands.”
The statement ended with a direct warning that “our dear President Tinubu must demonstrate that he stands with ordinary Nigerians rather than with the corrupt political elite who have turned Nigeria into their private estate. Nigeria cannot continue to borrow to fund corruption.
“The resources to rebuild this country exist within its borders and in the bank accounts of those who stole them. Until those resources are recovered and justice is done, no new loan should be contemplated, let alone approved.”
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