Senior Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Policy Communication, Daniel Bwala, has reacted to the recent campaign by some Nigerians on X urging international financial institutions to halt further loans to the Federal Government.
The online protest reportedly intensified to the point that the World Bank restricted comments on its Instagram page after users flooded the platform with repeated appeals and unsolicited messages demanding that Nigeria be denied additional borrowing opportunities.
Speaking during an appearance on Arise Television on Wednesday, Bwala said it was unclear whether those behind the online campaign were ordinary citizens or political opponents, especially as the country approaches another election season.
He, however, maintained that regardless of their affiliations, Nigerians are entitled to freedom of expression, while the government also has a constitutional responsibility to govern within the law.
He said, “This is the eve of election, and so it is difficult to tell whether the citizens who have flooded the page asking that Nigeria be denied the right to borrow, whether they are opposition, they are opponent, or they are genuine citizens.
“But whether they are opposition, opponents, or genuine citizens, they are citizens of Nigeria, and they have a right of expression, but government has a duty to execute the provisions of the constitution. In leadership, you listen to people, but when it comes to carrying out your responsibility, you do that in accordance with the law, due process of law, and your understanding of the responsibility that is placed in your hands. If, as a government, you are going to react to people who, on social media, say do not borrow Nigeria A, B, and C, what about if you have a counter distinction of another set of people saying go and borrow? How are you going to move as a leader? Leadership is not guided by certain things that do not have the backing of law.”
Bwala further stated that global financial institutions and economic experts have continued to classify Nigeria’s debt profile as manageable, noting that the country remains within a safe borrowing threshold.
According to him, the government has resorted to borrowing because available resources are insufficient to meet critical infrastructure and economic development needs.
He noted: “The World Bank, the IMF, and experts in the field have said that our borrowing so far is still on amber, it is not red, because we have been able to establish a revenue ratio, even though it is not that much, but it is not a danger, it is not red. The truth of the matter is this. We do not, as a country, have sufficient funds to deal with infrastructure to stimulate the economy, and with the daunting tax on us, and the responsibility to redirect the economy, we have to do what we have to do.”
The presidential aide also referenced the United States, arguing that borrowing is a common economic practice among nations worldwide, including leading global economies.
He stressed that the Tinubu administration is channeling borrowed funds into infrastructure and capital projects aimed at strengthening the economy.
He added: “Borrowing is part of it. America is borrowing money, and that is the largest economy in the world. There is no country of the world that is not borrowing.
“We can argue about whether our borrowing should be conducted or done now or later, but one fact that I can tell you is that the World Bank and experts have said it is amber and not red. On our own part, we know we have to invest in infrastructure, we know we have to invest in capital, in our project, and that is why we are borrowing. And the President has rightly said that borrowing is not leprosy.”
