Enoch Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), says Nigeria is “moving steadily towards bankruptcy” under President Muhammadu Buhari as the regime’s reckless borrowing is driving the nation’s economy to the brink of collapse.
The clergyman, while delivering his Sunday sermon at the Redemption Camp along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, expressed worry at the increased level of corruption in the oil and gas sector, alleging that officials sell-off over 80 per cent of the nation’s crude oil for their personal gain.
“80 per cent of what should have been the income of a nation is going into the hands of some people. That’s a lot of money, men!” said an alarmed Pastor Adeboye.
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The clergyman rhetorically queried the purpose of amassing such wealth at the expense of impoverishing the entire country.
He further queried the identities of nations buying the stolen fuel and if they were true allies of Nigeria.
According to him, more than 90 per cent of the proceeds of the leftover stolen fuel were used in servicing debt interests accumulated by Nigeria.
“It is open secret, undenied, that more than 90 per cent of our annual income, of the money we get, from the leftover of the oil that was stolen. We are using it to pay the interest of the money we have already borrowed. And then, it is in the news, we are borrowing more!” Pastor Adeboye emphasised in an alarming tone.
“According to a friend of mine, we are moving steadily into bankruptcy,” continued the RCCG overseer.
The RCCG overseer then said he wasn’t excited by the upcoming 2023 general elections as there were pertinent questions to tackle before the expiration of Mr Buhari’s tenure.
“So, you can see the reason I’m not thinking of 2023. Maybe, that’s why God has not spoken to me about it because there is a lot to deal with now.”
Nigeria’s debt has risen the most under Mr Buhari, whose notorious penchant for borrowing is three times more than all the past administrations combined.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure saw a drastic reduction in the nation’s foreign debt. Mr Obasanjo met a foreign debt burden of $28 billion but reduced it to $2.11 billion before leaving.
His successor, Umaru Musa Yaradua, incurred $1.39 billion, while Goodluck Jonathan incurred an additional $3.8 billion during his tenure, bringing the nation’s debt to $7.3 billion as of 2015.
However, the incumbent president, Mr Buhari, has acquired a whopping $21.27 billion loan, taking Nigeria’s external debt to an all-time high of $28.57 billion as of December 2020.
In addition to acquiring enormous debt, Mr Buhari has also depleted the Excess Crude Account (ECA) from $2.1 billion left by Jonathan to a paltry sum of $35million, giving credence to the report that he is unable to manage the nation’s resources judiciously.
Mr Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, could not be reached for comments as his line was not connecting at the time of filing this report.
