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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu’s administration over its move to seek another fresh $1.25 billion World Bank loan, accusing the Federal Government of plunging Nigeria into what it described as a “Ponzi economy” driven by endless borrowing and worsening hardship for citizens.

In a strongly worded statement issued by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC expressed outrage that the latest loan request was coming barely weeks after the National Assembly approved another round of multi-billion-dollar external borrowing.

The opposition party questioned why Nigerians were becoming poorer despite the government’s aggressive borrowing spree, insisting that there was little or no visible improvement in the lives of ordinary citizens.

“At this point, Nigerians must ask a simple question: if this government keeps borrowing trillions of naira every few months, why are Nigerians getting poorer, and why is life getting harder for the majority?” the party queried.

ADC said Nigeria’s total public debt had now ballooned to about N159.28 trillion, yet inflation, rising food prices, electricity tariff hikes, currency depreciation, unemployment and business closures continued to worsen across the country.

The party lamented that millions of Nigerians were battling one of the worst economic crises in recent history, with families cutting down on meals, manufacturers struggling to survive, and small businesses collapsing under the weight of inflation and poor economic policies.

According to the ADC, the Tinubu administration has turned borrowing into a survival strategy, taking fresh loans to service existing debts while shifting the burden to suffering Nigerians.

“This is why the ADC says the Tinubu administration is running a Ponzi economy, where new loans are constantly being taken to service old debts and cover fiscal failures, while ordinary Nigerians are left to carry the burden,” the statement declared.

The party further raised alarm over President Tinubu’s disclosure that Nigeria would spend about $11.6 billion, equivalent to over N15 trillion, on debt servicing alone in 2026.

ADC argued that such staggering debt obligations would deprive critical sectors like healthcare, education, infrastructure, agriculture, electricity and security of much-needed funding.

“In simple terms, trillions of naira that should have gone into roads, hospitals, schools, electricity, security, agriculture and job creation will instead go into paying creditors and servicing old loans,” the party stated.

The opposition party also criticized what it described as the administration’s obsession with repackaging loans under different policy acronyms, including ARMOR, RESET, HOPE and SPIN.

“Each time they want to borrow money, this government invents a new acronym. From ARMOR to RESET, HOPE, or SPIN, these are merely different labels for the same pretext to continue borrowing without any recourse to measurable impacts on the lives of Nigerians,” ADC said.

The party accused the government of inflicting severe hardship on Nigerians through the removal of fuel subsidy, naira devaluation and electricity tariff increases, despite earlier assurances that the painful reforms would eventually lead to economic recovery.

Instead, ADC said citizens had seen no tangible benefits from the harsh economic measures or the billions of dollars borrowed in their name.

“A serious government borrows to build industries, stabilize power, create jobs, expand exports, improve transportation, and grow the economy in ways that citizens can actually feel,” the statement added.

ADC also took a swipe at the National Assembly, accusing lawmakers of abandoning their constitutional duty by approving massive borrowing requests without adequate scrutiny or resistance.

“The National Assembly, which should serve as checks on executive excesses, has been reduced to a mere rubber stamp,” the party alleged.

Warning against what it described as mortgaging the future of unborn generations, the ADC said ordinary Nigerians were already paying the price for the country’s rising debt profile through hunger, unemployment, inflation and a collapsing standard of living.

The party insisted that Nigeria needed a new direction focused on production, industrialization, agriculture, stable electricity, support for local businesses and job creation rather than what it called reckless borrowing.