CNPP, CSOs Join Public Outcry Against Fresh $1.75 Billion World Bank Loan, Suggest Alternative to Borrowing
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In a blistering joint statement that reverberated across Nigeria’s political and civil society landscape, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs) have joined in condemning the Federal Government’s plan to secure a fresh $1.75 billion loan from the World Bank.
The statement, signed by Comrade James Ezema, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of CNPP, and Alhaji Ali Abacha, National Secretary of CNCSOs, paints a damning picture of fiscal mismanagement, economic hardship, and what they describe as “reckless looting” under the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
The CNPP and CNCSOs, representing a coalition of over seventy-five civil society organisations, expressed deep alarm over the proposed borrowing, especially in light of what they called “unprecedented revenue collections” in the past eight months. “This move, if pursued,” the statement warns, “will not only undermine the government’s credibility but also plunge ordinary Nigerians into deeper suffering while eroding any hope for sustainable economic recovery.”
The groups pointed to a glaring contradiction in the administration’s fiscal narrative. Just days prior, President Tinubu had publicly declared that Nigeria had surpassed its 2025 revenue targets ahead of schedule and would no longer rely on borrowing to finance its budget. According to figures released by the Presidency, revenue performance between January and August 2025 stood at N20.59 trillion—a staggering 40.5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024. Notably, non-oil revenue accounted for seventy-five percent of total collections, marking a historic shift in Nigeria’s revenue structure.
“If this is the case,” the statement asks pointedly, “why then should Nigeria be saddled with additional debt when the same government boasts of surplus revenue inflows?”
The coalition argues that Nigeria’s problem is not revenue generation but “a reckless looting, diversion, and mismanagement problem.” They allege that the nation’s wealth is “trapped in the private bank accounts of former and serving ministers, special advisers, political aides, cronies, and contractors who collude with public officials to shortchange the people.” Instead of pursuing more loans, they assert, the government should focus on recovering stolen funds and returning them to the Federation Account.
In a bold call to action, the CNPP and CNCSOs urged President Tinubu to immediately constitute “a high-powered presidential judicial panel with the clear mandate to trace, audit, and recover looted public funds.”
They emphasized that such a panel must investigate all loans secured by past administrations, scrutinize their deployment, expose misappropriation channels, and compel recovery into the public treasury.
“This is the only way to restore confidence, reduce the debt burden, and prove to Nigerians that this government is different from those before it,” the statement declares. “Anything less would amount to political deception and betrayal of the masses who are already suffocating under policies that have stripped them of their livelihoods.”
The statement also paints a grim portrait of daily life in Nigeria, describing it as “harsh beyond measure.” Since the abrupt removal of fuel subsidies two years ago, Nigerians have faced skyrocketing fuel costs that have triggered inflation across food, transportation, and other essentials. Electricity tariffs have surged despite erratic power supply, and citizens are forced to purchase prepaid meters at exorbitant prices—meters that technically belong to distribution companies.
New taxes and levies have compounded the burden. The statement highlights the five percent petroleum tax, which forces small business owners like barbers and hairdressers to pay N500 on every N5,000 spent on fuel. Additionally, the punitive N50 charge on every N10,000 transfer disproportionately affects poor Nigerians. “In a country where unemployment and underemployment are already endemic,” the statement laments, “these fiscal burdens amount to a direct assault on survival.”
The consequences, according to the coalition, are devastating. “Sudden deaths are becoming more common across the nation,” they write. “Nigerians collapse daily under the weight of untreated illnesses, high blood pressure, hunger, and hopelessness.”
They noted that families are fracturing under economic pressure, and young people are increasingly turning to financial crimes as a desperate means of survival. The “japa syndrome”—a mass exodus of skilled professionals seeking better opportunities abroad—is accelerating, draining the country of talent and further weakening its prospects for recovery.
The statement also criticizes the moral disconnect between the ruling elite and the suffering masses. “It is morally wrong for leaders who live in luxury, travel in private jets, and enjoy lavish allowances to continue enslaving the people with loans whose benefits never reach ordinary citizens,” it asserts. With debt servicing already consuming the bulk of Nigeria’s revenues, the coalition argues that each new loan only perpetuates a cycle of waste, diversion, and crippling repayment obligations.
In a stern warning to the President, the CNPP and CNCSOs declare that “the path his administration is treading is unsustainable and dangerous.”
They advocate for a shift away from endless borrowing toward confronting corruption head-on, recovering stolen funds, cutting wasteful expenditures, and investing honestly in sectors that generate jobs and growth. “If the government continues to impose unbearable hardship while piling up debts,” they caution, “the patience of the masses will eventually run out, and history has shown that no government survives once the people lose their fear and decide to take their destiny into their own hands.”
The statement concludes with a resolute demand: “We insist that the time to act is now. Our dear President Tinubu must demonstrate that he stands with ordinary Nigerians rather than with the corrupt political elite who have turned Nigeria into their private estate. Nigeria cannot continue to borrow to fund corruption.
“The resources to rebuild this country exist within its borders and in the bank accounts of those who stole them. Until those resources are recovered and justice is done, no new loan should be contemplated, let alone approved.”
The joint declaration stands as a powerful indictment of Nigeria’s current fiscal trajectory and a rallying cry for transparency, accountability, and economic justice. Whether the Tinubu administration will heed this call remains to be seen—but the message from civil society and opposition voices is unmistakably clear.
