Buhari regime accumulated debt for Nigeria; enriched sycophants through dual exchange rates, says Sanusi Lamido

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Sanusi Lamido, the former Emir of Kano, has berated former President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime for accumulating huge debt for the country while enriching sycophants through fraudulent dual exchange rates.

Mr Sanusi, a former Central Bank Governor, stated this in a video seen on social media on Monday, lamenting how sycophants in Mr Buhari’s regime were enriched that one of them who has never worked before bought a private jet.

“In the last eight years, only sycophancy succeeded. The sycophants bought dollars at N400 and sold N540. An inexperienced boy who had never worked anywhere owns a private jet,” Mr Sanusi said.

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Peoples Gazette cannot ascertain when the video was recorded. Also, Mr Sanusi did not specifically mention Mr Buhari’s name. However, Mr Buhari was in power between May 29, 2015, to May 29, 2023, a period covering the last eight years Mr Sanusi referred to in his statement.

“The last eight years, Nigeria led a false life, the government borrowed from within and without. About N30 trillion was borrowed from the Central Bank.

“All the revenue the country generated in the last few years couldn’t service debt. Debt service exceeded 100 per cent. Government borrowed to service debts. No country can grow this way,” Mr Sanusi added.

With reckless borrowings of Mr Buhari’s regime in eight years, Nigeria’s debt profile hit N46 trillion, according to the Debt Management Office.

Mr Buhari’s regime justified debt accumulation, claiming loans were obtained for infrastructural development.

However, last week at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference, President Bola Tinubu condemned debt accumulation by his predecessor as a path to destruction.

“Can we continue to service external debts with 90% of our revenue? It is a path to destruction,” Mr Tinubu said.

In June, Mr Tinubu ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to float the naira, allowing banks to determine exchange rates to the dollar and other foreign currencies, ending years of dual exchange rates in the country.