Labour Party to Akpabio: Follow Abbas’ Example, Halt Tinubu’s Reckless Borrowing

The Labour Party (LP) faction loyal to Nenadi Usman has urged Senate President Godswill Akpabio to emulate the courage of House of Representatives Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, by resisting President Bola Tinubu’s growing appetite for foreign and domestic loans.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party’s Interim National Publicity Secretary, Tony Akeni, praised Speaker Abbas for openly admitting that Nigeria’s rising debt profile has placed the nation’s economy in peril.

According to the LP, Nigeria’s debt stock soared from ₦121.7 trillion to ₦149.39 trillion within the first quarter of 2025, pushing the debt-to-GDP ratio to 52 percent far above the 40 percent legal threshold. It added that debt servicing alone consumed ₦8.93 trillion, or 61 percent of total government revenue, within nine months.

“These figures are not mere statistics; they represent a death sentence on the future of Nigerians, both living and unborn,” the statement said. “For Speaker Abbas, a senior APC leader, to acknowledge this reality is proof that Tinubu’s borrowing spree has become unsustainable.”

While noting Abbas’s role in previously approving some of the loans, the party said his latest intervention deserves commendation for drawing national attention to the dangers of unchecked borrowing.

The LP urged Akpabio to avoid turning the Senate into a “rubber stamp” for the executive, warning that history would not absolve leaders who enable the mortgaging of the nation’s future.

“Akpabio must remember that a people crushed by hunger and poverty will one day rise against their oppressors,” the party declared.

It further insisted that any new loan request without a clear, measurable plan for infrastructure, economic growth, and social benefits should be rejected outright.

“Nigeria cannot continue piling up debts to fund waste, luxury, and political patronage. The time to put the nation first is now,” the statement concluded.