A foundation member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu has said that the People's Democratic Party (PDP) not the ruling APC mortgaged the future of Nigeria.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) had on Sunday accused President Bola Tinubu's administration of "fiscal vandalism", following the National Assembly's approval of £21 billion in foreign loans.
The party had said that the new wave of borrowing would drive Nigeria's public debt beyond N200 trillion before the end of the year, with no corresponding development or economic revival to justify it.
Answering questions from newsmen at Enugu on Sunday on the allegations of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Okechukwu, submitted that PDP vandals were the ones who mortgaged Nigeria.
He said: "My candid position is that the leadership of the ADC are the true vandals who really mortgaged Nigeria today and tomorrow via their less than transparent privatisation programme.
“Because electricity is the bedrock of economic development, Nigerians have not slept since the day they auctioned NEPA/PHCN/Mambilla under all manner of conspiracy theories.
"One challenges ADC, if they are truly transparent to release the House of Representatives report on the $16 billion fiscal vandalism on electricity value chain under their watch - dubbed Ndudi Elumelu 2009 Report.”
The former Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), further added that " just as ADC vandalised NEPA/PHCN/Mambilla, our economic substructure; they also vandalised the superstructure of our sister political party, the PDP’s unity rotation convention in 2023 and now took refuge in the ADC".
Okechukwu frowns at the truism that instead of joining fellow patriots to reposition the dislocated PDP, they hurriedly took refuge in the ADC, "thinking that hauling stones will make Nigerians to forget the Manitoba and other less than transparent transactions which led to prohibitive electricity Tarrif and stymied huge investment like Aluminum Smelter, Ajaokuta et al.”
Asked if he is happy with impending debt burden the ADC is protesting; he answered that the President should resist borrowing for recurrent expenditures or flimsy, if there is any, but borrow for critical infrastructure to enhance manufacturers productivity.
“For me we should resist borrowing for recurrent expenditure or flimsy if there is any, rather the implementation of the Orasonye Report and urgent cutting down of unnecessary expenditures.
Albeit one will support President Tinubu to borrow about $50 billions to overhaul the entire electricity value chain, a bedrock of economic resorgimento", he said
Okechukwu further advised the President that instead of borrowing $3 billion to rehabilitate narrow gauge of Eastern Corridor Railways at the moment, he should borrow commensurate higher amount for standard gauge railways and one deep sea port in the Niger Delta to stimulate economic growth.