‘Where Has The Money Gone?’ – Victor Umeh Questions Tinubu’s Fresh $20.5bn Loan Request

The Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh has condemned President Bola Tinubu’s request for a new loan.

Naija News reports that Tinubu had written to the National Assembly seeking approval for the Federal Government’s 2026–2027 supplementary external borrowing plan, valued at $20.5 billion and €1.45 billion.

Reacting during an interview on Channels Television, Umeh questioned how the Federal Government has spent funds from previous borrowings.

He argued that budgetary obligations remain unmet despite repeated approvals for loans.

The senator argued that previous borrowing requests were justified on the grounds that the funds would finance government budgets, yet contractors were still owed for capital projects.

“The truth is that we have approved so much funds to be borrowed in the past, and on each occasion we’ve been told that this borrowing would be able to fund the budgets and these budgets have remained unfunded up till this day,” Umeh said.

He noted that three budgets were running concurrently, while the government had yet to meet its obligations to contractors handling capital projects.

“Three budgets are running concurrently and the government is not meeting its obligations to contractors on capital projects and so on and so forth. So if you borrow to finance a budget and you are not able to finance that budget, where has the money gone to? That is the question in the lips of everybody,” he said.

Umeh also suggested that the latest loan request would eventually receive legislative approval, arguing that opposition lawmakers would be outvoted by members of the ruling party.