General
SERAP Urges NASS to Reject Buhari’s Fresh Loan Request
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the National Assembly to reject the fresh loan request of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Last week, at the resumption of plenary on the Senate after a break, Mr Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President, read a letter from Mr Buhari requesting to borrow $4 billion and €710 million.
But in a letter, SERAP said both chambers, the Senate and House of Representatives, should not grant this request until the publication of details of spending of all loans obtained since the Buhari-led administration took office on May 29, 2015.
In the open letter signed by SERAP deputy director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, the group expressed “concerns about the growing debt crisis, the lack of transparency and accountability in the spending of loans that have been obtained, and the perceived unwillingness or inability of the National Assembly to vigorously exercise its constitutional duties to check the apparently indiscriminate borrowing by the government.”
SERAP said: “The National Assembly should not allow the government to accumulate unsustainable levels of debt, and use the country’s scarce resources for staggering and crippling debt service payments rather than for improved access of poor and vulnerable Nigerians to basic public services and human rights.”
According to SERAP, “Accumulation of excessive debts and unsustainable debt-servicing are inconsistent with the government’s international obligations to use the country’s maximum available resources to progressively achieve the realisation of economic and social rights, and access of Nigerians to basic public services.”
The letter read in part: “The country’s public debt has mushroomed with no end in sight. The growing national debt is clearly not sustainable. There has been no serious attempt by the government to cut the cost of governance. The leadership of the National Assembly ought to stand up for Nigerians by asserting the body’s constitutional powers to ensure limits on national debt and deficits.
“SERAP urges you to urgently propose a resolution and push for a constitutional amendment on debt limit, with the intent of reducing national debt and deficits. This recommendation is entirely consistent with the constitutional oversight functions and spending powers of the National Assembly, and the country’s international anti-corruption and human rights obligations.
“Indiscriminate borrowing has an effect on the full enjoyment of Nigerians’ economic and social rights. Spending a large portion of the country’s yearly budget to service debts has limited the ability of the government to ensure access of poor and vulnerable Nigerians to minimal health care, education, clean water, and other human needs.
“Should the National Assembly and its leadership fail to rein in government borrowing, and to ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of public loans, SERAP would consider appropriate legal action to compel the National Assembly to discharge its constitutional duties.
“The National Assembly under your leadership has a constitutional responsibility to urgently address the country’s debt crisis, which is exacerbated by overspending on lavish allowances for high-ranking public officials, lack of transparency and accountability, as well as the absence of political will to recover trillions of naira reported to be missing or mismanaged by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation.
“The National Assembly should stop the government from borrowing behind the people’s backs. Lack of information about details of specific projects on which loans are spent, and on loan conditions creates incentives for corruption, and limits citizens’ ability to scrutinise the legality and consistency of loans with the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended), as well as to hold authorities to account.
“SERAP notes that if approved, the country’s debts will exceed N35 trillion. The government is also reportedly pushing the maturity of currently-secured loans to between 10 and 30 years. N11.679 trillion is reportedly committed into debt servicing, while only N8.31 trillion was expended on capital/development expenditure between 2015 and 2020.
“Ensuring transparency and accountability in the spending of loans by the government and cutting the cost of governance would address the onerous debt servicing, and improve the ability of the government to meet the country’s international obligations to use maximum available resources to ensure the enjoyment of basic economic and social rights, such as quality healthcare and education.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu will on Saturday, May 2, 2026, leave Nigeria for a three-nation trip, a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said.
In the notice issued on Friday night, it was disclosed that Mr Tinubu would visit France, after which he would depart for Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the Africa-France Summit scheduled to begin next week.
Co-chaired by President Emmanuel Macron of France and President William Ruto of Kenya, the summit focuses on energy transition, green industrialisation, digital transformation, restructuring of global financing architecture, and climate action.
President Tinubu’s participation at the summit from May 11 to May 12. will underscore Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to strengthening strategic partnerships with African nations and the French Republic.
The summit, with the theme Africa Forward: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth, will provide a high-level platform for African leaders and their French counterparts to deliberate on critical issues affecting the continent, including economic transformation, climate resilience, infrastructure development, youth empowerment, technological advancement, and peace-building initiatives.
At the end of the Kenyan summit, President Tinubu will depart for Kigali, Rwanda, to attend the annual Africa CEO Forum, taking place between May 14 and 15.
With the theme Scale or Fail, this year’s Africa CEO Forum will be the largest gathering of African private sector leaders, investors, and policymakers, focusing on accelerating economic transformation through shared scale, regional integration, and increased cross-border investment.
Held in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the summit brings together over 2,000 top executives and national leaders to debate strategies for building resilient, competitive industries.
At the two summits, the Nigerian leader will deliver statements highlighting his administration’s ongoing reforms to reposition the nation as a prime destination for investment and growth. He will also hold high-level meetings with top-tier global and African business leaders.
President Tinubu will be accompanied on the trip by some of his ministers and senior aides. He will return to Nigeria at the end of the Rwanda summit.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved the adoption of 112 as the national emergency number at all levels and across relevant agencies.
It is part of measures to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency lifeline and build a unified and coordinated national response to emergencies.
The council also approved the establishment of a multi-agency implementation committee and programme coordination led by the Office of the Vice President and the National Communications Commission (NCC).
The approval was part of decisions taken at the 157th meeting of the NEC held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Mr Shettima said the 112 emergency lifeline had become necessary to prevent delay caused by bureaucratic bottlenecks, noting that what the citizens seek urgently when confronted by a natural disaster or insecurity is an urgent response and not bureaucracy.
“This is not only a technical reform. It is a test of the state’s humanity. In moments of fire, accident, robbery, medical emergency, flood, violence, or panic, citizens do not need bureaucracy.
“They need a response. They need to know one number to call, one system to trust, and one coordinated chain of action that moves quickly enough to save lives,” he stated.
He explained that while Nigeria is not beginning from zero, as the emergency number had been in existence, what is required at the moment “is coordination, adoption, standard operating procedures, public awareness, institutional ownership, and trust”.
The vice president described NEC as the nation’s economic engine room, where the federal government and the states must convert the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu into practical outcomes.
“We cannot build our way to a one-trillion-dollar economy by federal effort alone. We cannot create millions of jobs by speeches alone.
“We cannot expand exports, attract investment, secure communities, or unlock productivity unless every tier of government understands its role and performs it with urgency,” the VP noted.
Mr Shettima noted that the council will continue to focus on decisions that would have a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians.
“History will not ask how many meetings we held. It will ask what changed because we met.
“It will ask whether our decisions reached the farmer, the manufacturer, the artist, the investor, the accident victim, the unemployed graduate, and the child waiting to inherit the country we are rebuilding.”
NEC also received a presentation on the rehabilitation of police training institutions across the country from its ad hoc committee led by Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, and commended the ad hoc committee for the work done so far.
It also called on the Ministry of Finance to expedite the release of the balance of approved funds for the take-off of the project and urged the committee to ensure national spread by capturing training institutions in each geopolitical zone in the first phase of the intervention.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Supreme Court has recognised Mr David Mark as the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a judgment on Friday, the apex court restored the leadership of the former Senate President, after an appellate court had ordered a status quo ante bellum.
The Supreme Court held that the decision of the Appeal Court on status quo ante bellum was improper and unwarranted.
It also refused to uphold the preliminary objections by counsel to Mr Nafiu Bala, who is challenging the leadership of Mr Mark, directing that the suit should head back to the trial court for determination. Mr Bala went to court to seek an ex parte to stop Mr Mark and his team from parading themselves as leaders of the opposition party.
The ADC, which was asked to put on notice to explain why the injunction should not be given, appealed the matter, but the parties were asked to maintain the status quo ante bellum. This was interpreted to mean the ADC was without a leader.
The matter went to the apex court, which decided it today, affirming Mr Mark as the party’s chairman, which seeks to eject President Bola Tinubu from Aso Rock via the 2027 presidential election.
Mr Bala, a former vice chairman of the party, was said to have resigned his position to pave the way for Mr Mark and others, who joined the party from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP).
However, he claimed he did not resign and that his signature was forged, seeking the court’s help to install him as the party’s chairman, based on ADC’s constitution, according to him.
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