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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has faulted plans by the Federal Government to raise N4 trillion bond to settle debts in the power sector, noting that it is a “display of fiscal recklessness and brazen contempt for public accountability.”
Atiku, in a statement by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, yesterday, decried endless borrowing and alleged non-disclosure under the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
President Tinubu, in his Democracy Day Address, last Friday, had disclosed that the Presidential Power Sector Task Force has been authorised to raise N4 trillion through bonds to pay verified legacy debts in the power sector.
However, the former Atiku stated that no no government acting in good faith would repeatedly raise funds to solve the same problem while allegedly refusing to account for previous funds raised for the same purpose.
“The facts are as disturbing as they are damning. On December 20, 2025, the Federal Government announced the issuance of a N590 billion power sector bond to clear debts owed to generation companies and gas suppliers. Nigerians were told that the intervention would address the liquidity crisis in the sector and restore confidence in the electricity market.
“Barely a month later, the government announced that a N501 billion bond issued under the same programme had recorded full subscription and would be deployed to settle verified obligations. Then, in April 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved yet another N3.3 trillion plan to clear power sector debts. On each occasion, government officials spoke triumphantly, projecting the image of an administration that had finally found solutions to the sector’s perennial problems.”
Atiku, African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, added that “yet, in a stunning contradiction of those claims, the Association of Power Generation Companies has publicly disclosed that the debts remain largely unpaid.
“More troublingly, its Chief Executive Officer, Joy Ogaji, revealed that the N501 billion bond raised months ago to settle a negotiated portion of the debt remains unresolved. In simple terms, billions were raised, subscriptions were celebrated, announcements were made, and victory was declared, but the creditors are still waiting for payment.
“What makes this development even more troubling is that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his June 12 Democracy Day address, publicly touted a fresh debt-clearing initiative for the power sector as evidence of his administration’s commitment to reform.
“Yet, before the applause from that announcement could die down, Nigerians were confronted by the uncomfortable reality that previous debt-clearing bonds remain shrouded in unanswered questions. Democracy is not sustained by grand declarations; it is sustained by accountability.
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“A government cannot celebrate a new solution while refusing to explain the fate of the old one.
The irony is striking: on a day set aside to honour democratic accountability, Nigerians were presented with yet another borrowing proposal for the same problem that previous borrowings supposedly addressed.”
While stating that the Tinubu administration seems unwilling to explain what happened to what happened to previous bond raised to clear the power sector debt, Atiku lamented that the citizens have continued to suffer the consequences of a dysfunctional power sector.
“What makes this scandal particularly alarming is the emerging pattern. The government announces a crisis. It raises debt in the name of solving the crisis. It celebrates the intervention. It refuses to provide a detailed account of how the funds were utilised. The problem remains.
“Then another borrowing programme is unveiled to solve the same problem all over again. That is not reform. That is not economic management. That is not governance. It is a revolving door of debt and opacity that would trigger investigations in any serious country.
“The tragedy is that while government officials move from one announcement to another, ordinary Nigerians continue to suffer the consequences of a dysfunctional power sector.
‘Businesses are collapsing under crushing energy costs. Manufacturers are struggling to remain competitive. Families spend a significant portion of their income on alternative power sources. Darkness remains a permanent feature of daily life. Yet, despite trillions committed to interventions, the only thing that appears to grow consistently is the size of the debt and the frequency of borrowing,” he stated.
Furthermore, Atiku noted that President Tinubu must immediately give a comprehensive account of every fund raised under the various power sector debt settlement programmes; detailing how much was raised, where the funds were kept,what debts have been settled, the outstanding and why fresh borrowing has become imperative.
“No serious nation can continue to borrow its way into darkness. No responsible government repeatedly seeks fresh debt to settle liabilities it previously claimed to have settled. Before another bond is issued, before another debt is raised, and before another round of self-congratulatory announcements is made, Nigerians deserve answers.
“Until those answers are provided, this entire exercise will remain what it increasingly appears to be: a racket dressed up as reform and a scandal searching desperately for a cover story.”
