‘Where has the money gone?’ Umeh challenges Tinubu over fresh loans

Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh, has questioned the Federal Government’s handling of previous loans, demanding answers over unpaid contractors as President Bola Tinubu seeks approval to borrow an additional $20.5 billion and €1.45 billion.

Umeh, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, expressed concern that despite repeated borrowing approvals, the government had yet to meet some of its financial obligations, particularly payments for capital projects.

He argued that successive loan requests had been justified on the grounds that the funds would help finance government budgets, yet some of those budgets remained underfunded.

“The truth is that we have approved so much funds to be borrowed in the past, and on each occasion we’ve been told that this borrowing would be able to fund the budgets and these budgets have remained unfunded up till this day,” the senator said.

Umeh also questioned why contractors handling government projects were still owed money despite the funds borrowed to support budget implementation.

“Three budgets are running concurrently and the government is not meeting its obligations to contractors on capital projects and so on and so forth,” he said.

He added: “So if you borrow to finance a budget and you are not able to finance that budget, where has the money gone to? That is the question in the lips of everybody.”

The senator further predicted that the National Assembly would eventually approve the latest borrowing request, arguing that opposition lawmakers might struggle to stop it because members of the ruling party could outvote them.

Tinubu has asked the National Assembly to approve the Federal Government’s 2026–2027 supplementary external borrowing plan, comprising $20.5 billion and €1.45 billion.

The proposed loans, according to the government, would finance critical infrastructure, agriculture, education and other priority sectors as part of its development agenda.

However, the request has renewed concerns about Nigeria’s growing debt burden and the need for greater transparency in the use of borrowed funds.

Umeh’s intervention adds to the debate over whether the government should secure additional loans before addressing questions about the implementation of previous budgets and outstanding payments to contractors.