From Ndubuisi Orji and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The revelation by the Debt Management Office (DMO) that the in-coming administration might likely inherit a debt of N77 trillion by the time President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure ends in May is a source of worry to some of the main opposition parties in the country.
However, amid the concerns, some of the opposition parties said they have started mapping out strategies on how they intend to address the issue if they win the 2023 general elections.
While speaking on how it will address the issue, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stated that it will leverage on its experience in governance, and robust programmes to salvage the country’s economy if its candidate Atiku Abubakar wins the February 25 presidential poll.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba in an interview with Saturday Sun asserted that the PDP is worried by the DMO disclosure, but insisted that the party would confront the challenge. He said if elected, the PDP has designed programme and policies that will help to address the current economic situation in the country.
“The report by the DMO is troubling. It scaring. It has actually confirmed all our concerns, expressed over the years, in respect to the monumental mismanagement of the economy of this country under the APC leadership. We have drawn attention and raised alarm severally about the incompetence, the complete rudderlessness and the fact that the APC did not come to govern; but to destroy Nigeria economy. The massive reported cases of corruption and looting by the APC government is a pointer to what that report reveals. It is a sad commentary for our nation that the APC is pushing this country towards the brink- socially, security wise, economically, mutual suspicion, every sector has been bastardize – through its misadventure in governance.”
Urging Nigerians not to lose hope, Ologunagba said hope is on the way for the country if the PDP wins the election. He recalled that the country was also in a very bad shape when the PDP took over from the military in 1999, and expressed optimism that just as the PDP was able to address the challenges it inherited from the military in 1999, that the opposition party is set to revamp the economy again, if it gets the mandate of the people.,
The Labour Party, speaking through its Presidential Campaign Council spokesman, Tanko Yunusa, told Saturday Sun that one of the ways a Peter Obi-led administration would be tackling the debt problem of the country would be by subsidizing production in order to de-emphasize Nigeria from being a consumption-based nation.
said he: “We have had a planned debt management situation. We know that the country is highly indebted. We are very much aware of that and that is the reason our major mantra is around movement from consumption to production. And of course, we believe strongly that there should be subsidy in terms of production instead of consumption. Most of the time we have subsidy based on consumption and that has increased our debt level. We will leverage more on subsidy for production so that the more we are producing, the more we can quickly offset some of our debt. We have to work very closely with some of our Nigerian youths. Of course even if you are investing you cannot be investing in something which you are consuming. Rather, you have to invest in something that you will produce so that you will be able to take care of your debt. So as far as we are concerned, we will look at the options of reviewing some of those debts to suit our capacity as a nation because we will not be taking care of debt while the people will be living in abject poverty and hunger. It will not be acceptable. So it must be looked into in that particular aspect.”