Senator Orji Kalu of Abia North Senatorial District has defended the continued borrowing of the Federal Government.
Kalu, a former Governor of Abia State, said borrowing has become a necessity to keep the economy alive.
According to him, the Nigeria’s economy is at a point that if the President Bola Tinubu administration stops borrowed jg, it will collapse.
“What you don’t know is, if this economy stops borrowing, it will collapse. That’s the truth. That is where we are,” Kalu said during an appearance on Channels Television on Monday.
The Senator also dismissed claim that the National Assembly is a rubber stamp, noting that every proposal are being scrutinised by relevant committee.
“The Foreign and Local Debt Committee used to scrtunise every proposal. I am not a member, but these jobs are done mainly at the committee level,” he added.
The Senator’s clarification comes amid outrage regarding the Federal Government’s plan to borrow around $21.5 billion, which will increase the country’s public debt from “N144.7 trillion to a crushing N183 trillion”.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has also condemned the plan, describing it as economic sabotage.
He also called on civil society groups and the international community to intervene before Nigeria gets sold to “debt slavery”.
