A broadcaster with Arise Television, Rufai Oseni, has raised concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt profile, cautioning that poor utilisation of borrowed funds could further strain the country’s economy.

Oseni’s remarks come in response to recent comments by President Bola Tinubu, who stated that debt should not be viewed as inherently harmful.

Speaking on The Morning Show on Thursday, Oseni argued that while borrowing is not unusual for governments, Nigeria’s current debt levels and servicing costs are becoming increasingly unsustainable. He noted that an estimated ₦15 trillion to ₦16 trillion is being allocated to debt servicing within a proposed ₦60 trillion national budget, raising concerns about fiscal sustainability.

Oseni also criticised what he described as an uneven political environment, alleging that the government was stifling opposition voices.

He maintained that a fair and competitive political space would allow voters to make independent choices.

Oseni said: I’ll tell you debt is a leprosy. Yes, debt is a leprosy. You know why it’s leprosy your cost of serving the debt or servicing the debts, when you spend about 15 to 16 trillion in a budget that goes about 60 trillion.

“Now look at the percentage of what you use in debt service. It becomes leprosy, especially when you cannot see what you’re doing with the debt.

“This argument that, oh, we are doing it for roads. Everything road does not similarly transfer to development and growth.

“You’re beginning to see an uptick in the numbers of people suffering, capital mobilization is poor.

“So this argument of doing roads and everything, it doesn’t give an uptick in economic… They’ve borrowed another $516m. They’ve racked up the debt to about N160 trillion. What have we to show for it? People are poor. Their lives are worse off.

“They’ve done, for example, kilometers of coastal road. We are still asking them what’s the bidding process for that? Why did they have a preferred company? They’ve gone to the port. They have borrowed another money for the ports.

“Let’s be realistic, debt can become leprosy if not properly used, and the rate at which Nigeria is using it is not better. What is the state of the federal medical centers today? What state of the schools in the country today?

“They claim they’ve done student loan, yes, but it’s still a loan because the student has to pay it back.

“Debt is leprosy, if it’s not properly used and we are losing it in a leprosy way. In fact, our debt has taken Nigeria to a lepers colony.”