A group, the Democratic Front (TDF) has faulted the criticism of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on foreign loans being borrowed by President Bola Tinubu whom he (Abubakar) is asking to account for previous loans before collecting fresh ones from the World Bank.

The TDF in a statement made available to New Telegraph signed by the duo of Danjuma Muhammad and Wale Adedayo, chairman and secretary respectively carpeted the presidential candidate of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) for lacking clear understanding of loan processes in the international lending arena.

“Former Vice President clearly exhibited a lack of knowledge about World Bank loan processes and procedures, through his inexcusable ignorance of the fact that the World Bank does not automatically grant fresh loans to any country without compliance with legal and policy/reform conditions as contained in Article III of its Charter,” the statement reads in part.

According to the group, “We are however aware that Nigeria can only access a fresh World Bank loan under a proven evidence of strict application of previous loans to the intended developmental projects or ventures, and a positive record of repayment and debt servicing trajectory.

“In other words, approval of fresh loans to the Nigerian government by the World Bank is in itself, evidence that the government has fully accounted for how previous loans from the Bank were spent.

“Our disappointment in the former Vice President, who served under a government that collected and expended over $3.1 billion foreign loans for Nigeria, is his appalling failure to comprehend that the World Bank would not have granted a fresh loan to Nigeria if the conditions for accountability and repayment on previous borrowings were not met.”

The group further added that repayment of IMF’s covid 19 loans, which amounted to a total of $3.4 billion, by the Tinubu led administration in May 2025, is an evidence of the economy’s capacity for debt repayment under the ongoing reforms.

“We have also observed that the former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate in the forthcoming 2027 elections, has repeatedly attempted to needlessly harangue Nigerians over the country’s public debt, which stood at N166.79, as a gimmick to mislead the public ahead of 2027.

“Even though, a public debt of N166.79 trillion is on the high side, it is still very much within affordable fiscal bracket for Nigeria. Considering the Debt Service-to-Revenue-Ratio at 55 per cent, Year-on-Year GDP Growth at 4.43 per cent, and an 18 years record Foreign Exchange Reserve at $55.25 billion, creating a huge fiscal space for investment in meaningful developments that will trigger production and productivity.”