ItsGeGeLe

ATIKU WAS RIGHT: TINUBU’S $20BN LOAN REQUEST VALIDATES HIS WARNING — NOW EXPLAIN THE COASTAL HIGHWAY LINK Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s request for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion vindicates the warning he gave Nigerians on October 12 about a loan plan of up to $20 billion. Atiku said the President’s failure to identify the specific projects to be funded deepens serious concerns that the Lagos–Calabar Coastal (now inland) Highway, could be used to channel borrowed public money to Tinubu’s political campaigners and favoured contractors. In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said: “On October 12, I warned Nigerians that President Tinubu was reportedly preparing to borrow up to $20 billion in connection with the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway. I demanded that he confirm or deny the plan and publish the accounts. He did neither. Today, he has asked the Senate to approve $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion in external loans. My warning has been vindicated. “The President has listed broad sectors but has not provided Nigerians with a project by project account of what this enormous borrowing will fund. There are no clear project details, costs, locations or contractors for the public to scrutinise. “That silence is especially troubling when the Coastal Highway has been rerouted inland. Nigerians have every right to ask whether the highway is being turned into a pipeline for borrowed money to reach Tinubu’s campaigners and favoured contractors. How can any President, barely 12 weeks before an election, ask lawmakers to saddle Nigerians with more than $20 billion and €1 billion in debt without identifying the projects and their costs? Is this a development plan for Nigerians or a campaign financing scheme dressed up as infrastructure? Tinubu must answer.” “The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation. No public money should be borrowed in the dark. No lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future. “I warned Nigerians before this request reached the Senate. Now the burden is on Tinubu to prove that this borrowing will serve the country, not his political interests.” Atiku called on lawmakers to make the proposal and its supporting documents public and subject them to rigorous scrutiny before any decision. Signed: Phrank Shaibu Director, Strategic Communication, ADC PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COUNCIL. 27th October,2026.