Prince Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, has criticized Bola Tinubu’s handling of Nigeria’s economy, particularly the nation’s dependence on foreign borrowing.
Speaking in a recent interview, Adebayo described the excessive reliance on international loans as a sign of poor economic management and misplaced national priorities.
“It pains me to hear the finance minister say it’s a good day when Nigeria goes borrowing in London,” Adebayo said.
“Borrowing is not a win. It’s a crisis. No past finance minister would ever describe the act of going abroad to borrow as a ‘good day.’ It’s a sign of systemic failure,” he added.
Adebayo distinguished between borrowing from within a country’s economy and seeking external loans.
“Countries like America borrow, but they borrow from their own currency. When you’re borrowing Eurobonds or foreign currencies, it signals a deep economic crisis,” he noted.
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He added, “If your neighbour donates blood to you because you’re anaemic, you should be grateful, but that’s not the best day of your life. You’re not supposed to be anaemic in the first place.”
The SDP chieftain urged the Tinubu administration to adopt a more coordinated economic strategy, prioritizing internal capital generation.
“The economy must be run in a way that allows us to generate wealth internally. The current approach lacks coordination, even though the finance minister is supposed to be the economy’s coordinator,” he said.
Adebayo advocated for more strategic planning, emphasizing that improved coordination and collaboration with citizens could help Nigeria minimize its reliance on foreign loans and attain economic stability.
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