$1.5bn Loan Request: Don’t Grant Fresh Loans To Tinubu, APM Tells World Bank, Others

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) has urged the World Bank and other international lenders not to grant fresh loans to the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

In a statement on Monday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, the party said international financial institutions should protect the interests of over 200 million Nigerians by withholding credit from what it described as a “squandermaniac” All Progressives Congress (APC) government.

The APM condemned the Federal Government’s plan to secure a fresh $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank, saying the administration has no clear strategy to repay the over N166.7 trillion debt accumulated under its watch.

“It is unacceptable that, even with the trillions of naira derived from the removal of the subsidy on petrol, the Tinubu administration is engaged in its morbid appetite for borrowing, with nothing to show apart from weakening the value of the naira, thereby crippling our productive sector and reducing the purchasing power of the average Nigerian,” the party said.

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The party alleged that loans obtained by the government are often diverted, while Nigerians continue to grapple with collapsed infrastructure, unemployment and rising food insecurity.

“It is distressing that whereas the APC administration always claims that the loans are for plausible causes, most of the funds are diverted to the private pockets of a corrupt cabal while Nigerians continue to struggle with collapsed infrastructure and unemployment, with over 140 million citizens unable to afford their daily meals,” it stated.

According to the APM, Nigerians have endured extreme hardship since Tinubu assumed office in 2023, citing high costs of electricity, transportation, food and healthcare, as well as excessive taxes. It referenced an assessment by the World Food Programme estimating that about 35 million Nigerians face acute food insecurity in 2026.

“Most disturbing is that, in the face of President Tinubu’s calamitous misrule, which has plunged our nation into misery and a ‘dark tunnel of uncertainty’, the APC is arrogantly bandying false performance claims and even has the temerity to be contesting the 2027 presidential election,” the statement added.

The party warned that the APC is pushing Nigerians to the limit, saying patience should not be mistaken for weakness.

The APM called on international lenders, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China and the United States, not to extend fresh credit to the administration.

“Nigerians have reached unanimity to vote out the Tinubu-led APC administration in January 2027. Such an ‘outgoing’ administration should not be entrusted with any credit facility on behalf of our nation,” Yusuf said.

The party assured that its presidential candidate, Engr. Seyi Makinde, if elected, would “reset governance by placing greater emphasis on transparency, fiscal discipline, productive investment, effective utilisation of the nation’s resources and revamping of our productive sector to ensure a new lease of life for all Nigerians.”