Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for an audit of the utilisation of the ₦501 billion bond issued by the federal government for the settlement of power sector debts.

Atiku said an audit of the ₦501 billion bond has become necessary following disclosures by the Executive Secretary of the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Joy Ogaji, that the bond has allegedly not been fully disbursed.

The former Vice President, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, on Wednesday, said the disclosure by the APGC presents compelling evidence that the Federal Government’s repeated bond issuances have allegedly “become an endless cycle of borrowing without accountability”.

Ogaji recently faulted government claims on the level of disbursement of the ₦501 billion bond, challenging the government to publish the list of beneficiaries.

Atiku, who is also the African Democratic Congress (ADC) 2027 presidential candidate, urged the National Assembly, the Auditor-General of the Federation, and all institutions responsible for safeguarding public funds to insist on a comprehensive public audit of all power sector intervention funds raised under the President Bola Tinubu administration.

According to him, the government should “publish the names of every generation company that received payment. Publish the amount paid to each beneficiary. Publish the dates the payments were made. Publish the outstanding balances. Public money cannot disappear into official press statements. Every naira borrowed in the name of Nigerians must be traceable to its destination.”

The presidential hopeful noted that “the startling disclosure by the executive secretary of the APGC, Dr Joy Ogaji, that the much-publicised ₦501 billion bond has not even been fully disbursed, despite repeated government claims to the contrary, raises grave questions about transparency, fiscal discipline and the credibility of the administration’s economic management.

“Even more damning is her challenge to the federal government to publish the complete list of beneficiaries, the amounts paid to each generation company and the dates of such payments if indeed the money has been released.”

He added that for months Nigerians have been inundated with announcements of bond after bond supposedly floated to clear power sector debts

“First came the promise of a ₦590 billion intervention. Then came the ₦501 billion bond, celebrated as a major breakthrough. Before long, the country was told about a multi-trillion-naira settlement programme.

“Today, another debt package is being contemplated while the very companies the government claims to have settled insist that the liabilities have continued to grow. This is no longer a policy failure. It is a crisis of credibility.

“The question is no longer whether the government is borrowing. The question is why Nigerians are repeatedly being asked to applaud fresh borrowing to solve a problem that the government insists it solved only yesterday.

“If the earlier interventions worked, why is another intervention necessary? If the debts were substantially cleared, why are the creditors saying otherwise?”

He further stated that the administration appears to treat governance as a cycle of announcements rather than results.

“A government that constantly changes the figures cannot expect citizens to trust its arithmetic. A government that celebrates disbursements which beneficiaries dispute cannot expect investors to trust its assurances. A government that asks future generations to repay debts incurred today has a moral obligation to account for every kobo borrowed.

“The Tinubu administration must stop moving the goalposts. Governance is not measured by the size of bond issuances but by measurable outcomes.”

Atiku added that transparency is a constitutional obligation, warning that Nigerians are growing weary of official claims that do not match realities on the ground. (The Sun)

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