Rising debts: Group charges NASS to probe FG’s loans

The Rivers State Tax Justice and Governance Platform (TJGP), in collaboration with Christian Aid (CA) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), has called on the National Assembly to urgently investigate all International Monetary Fund (IMF) loans received by the country.

The call is necessitated by the escalating debt burden being incurred by the Nigerian government and its attendant effect on the economy and the populace in the face of the unprecedented spiraling inflation in the country.

The group said the escalating debt burden has profound implications for the wellbeing of Nigerian citizens, adding that failure to act quickly could result in an additional 23 million Nigerians living in poverty and 80 million working-age citizens without full-time jobs by 2030.

Amaechi Kelechi Justin, Lead, Rivers State Task Justice and Governance Platform, made the call while briefing journalists in Port Harcourt, saying that Nigeria is in strait revenue situation as it appears to be short of ideas on the approach to fiscal management.

He explained that the trajectory of revenue from the Federal Government shows a continuous decline in the past five years with a 45 percent revenue shortfall in 2018, a 45 percent shortfall in 2019, 31 percent in 2020 and 45 percent, 41 percent and 50 percent in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively, stressing that these revenue shortfalls had created budget deficits that have precipitated the debt crisis shooting up the country’s external debt by 1,333 percent from the level it was after the Paris Debt buy-back-deal in 2005/2006.

The group said the concerning trends underscore the need for the National Assembly to urgently commit to sound reforms and balanced resource allocation, thereby paving the way for significant investment in critical sectors that directly impact the lives of vulnerable Nigeria.

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The Rivers State TJGP recommended that the National Assembly should commit to: “investigating the movement and spending of loans received by the Federal Government in the past and present administrations, including but not limited to the $3.4 billion loan obtained from the IMF as reported in the 2020 annual audited report published last week by the Auditor-General of the Federation.

“Revising legal and institutional frameworks related to debt management, emphasising transparency and accountability. This includes accelerating the amendment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007.

“Redefining the purpose of incurring debts in clear terms of debts being for projects that will promote value chain development, improve the macroeconomic framework, develop infrastructure and build strategic human capital. This will imply a deletion of the amendment in the 2021 Finance Act which introduced an omnibus new term called ‘national interest’ as justification for borrowing, among others.”

It stressed that Nigeria should adopt a comprehensive approach to taxation which categorises taxes to income, consumption and property tax saying, “every tax should fall under these three categories rather than having all manners of taxes all over the place which are set out to extort business owners rather than generate revenue for the government.

The group further urged the National Assembly to “establish a tax committee empowered to approve Double Tax Agreements rather than the general floor of the National Assembly”, proposing that the committee should be empowered to monitor and evaluate existing tax treaties and agreements between jurisdictions to make data available for government decisions.