{OPINION} ‘IMF LOAN PAY OFF’: Why the deceptive half truth?
By Dr UCHE DIALA
When half truths, outright lies and misinformation become the governance code …
“While acknowledging the federal government’s commitment to the debt repayment schedule for the IMF loan, it is important to state thus: We did not have, neither did the current administration inherit an abandoned or multiple loan obligations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), contrary to what has been implied by some, including by the senior special assistant to the President on digital engagement, strategy, and new media, O’tega Ogra.”
Fellow Compatriots, let us beware of the carefully orchestrated disinformation and deception tactics of the current administration, intentionally executed using some section of the media as well as dedicated aides and cronies of the administration led by the likes of UK resident Reno Omokri.
We have never had it so bad (not even under military rule), when a Nigerian government elevates mischief and deception to a level of statecraft – deploying and using its appointees and proxies – paid and unpaid, including willfully ignorant and brainwashed hands to actively and deliberately confuse, deceive and mislead Nigerians.
This is a serious cause for concern for all Nigerians, and it transcends partisan political, tribal and religious sentiments and boundaries. It is our collective lives and future and that of our nation at stake.
While acknowledging the federal government’s commitment to the debt repayment schedule for the IMF loan, it is important to state thus:
1) We did not have, neither did the current administration inherit an abandoned or multiple loan obligations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), contrary to what has been implied by some, including by the senior special assistant to the President on digital engagement, strategy, and new media, O’tega Ogra.
2) The loan in question is a COVID-19 tied IMF Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) loan taken in 2020 with repayment of Principal spread till 2025 and repayment of interest further spread till 2029.
As reported by Punch Newspaper: “The RFI loan, disbursed in full on April 30, 2020, was granted to assist Nigeria in addressing urgent balance of payments needs following the devastating economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had triggered a sharp fall in oil prices, a recession, and widespread fiscal pressures.
Under the terms of the facility, Nigeria’s remaining repayment obligations are staggered over a five-year period beginning in 2025 and concluding in 2029.
For 2025, Nigeria is scheduled to repay a final principal amount of SDR 306.81 million along with charges and interest of SDR 22.81 million, bringing the total repayment due this year to SDR 329.62 million, equivalent to approximately $446.21m.
From 2026 to 2029, the obligations primarily relate to charges and interest payments estimated at around SDR 26.7 million each year, translating to about $36.14m annually at the current exchange rate.
Cumulatively, Nigeria is expected to repay about SDR 436.42 million over the next five years, amounting to a total of $590.78m in U.S. dollar terms based on the latest valuation.”
Principal and interest are components of any loan (obligation). You can not say you have liquidated or exited a loan obligation when you still have interest obligations.
So, the critical question arises. What is the motive for the disinformation?
Why exactly have some appointees and cronies of the administration continued to push that narrative of IMF loans cleared when they know that it is clearly misleading and not true? We still have some commitment to the IMF, no matter how much, but we are not in default. That is the factual and true position.
It is worthy of note that the Nigerian government, from 2015 to 2023, never defaulted on any debt repayment obligation, including debts that it inherited, while also addressing new debts and no noise was made about it.
A good example are crude oil backed loans inherited by the last administration, which it dutifully paid down as scheduled, and the current administration continued from where it stopped.
It should bother every Nigerian that while the current administration is using its appointees and hired hands to hype a supposed IMF loan pay off, it has borrowed N22.11 trillion in 18 months (July 2023 to December 2024) while on the other hand, the last administration borrowed N39.91 trillion in the whole of 8 years, meaning that the current administration under Tinubu, in less than 2 years has borrowed more than half of total domestic debt that the Buhari administration borrowed in 8 years. This is in spite of savings from the removal of subsidy on almost everything; petrol, electricity, agriculture, etc. Think about it.
Whether a loan is from the IMF, World Bank, AFREXIM Bank, or even domestic sources, it all amounts to our national debt and a burden on the nation.
Make no mistake. I am not averse to borrowing, so long as it is for productive reasons. As a business man, I understand, but it is worrisome when the government seeks to blind fold the citizens and hoodwink them into believing that somehow, we are debt free simply because a particular IMF loan has been cleared (again which is not true) when in actual truth, our debt portfolio and burden are rising in a fast and disconcerting manner.
Worrisome too, is the fact that while most of the loans taken during the last administration were tied to infrastructural projects (rail, road, bridges, airports, etc.), which were executed and everyone can see and verify, there is no real evidence of what the current administration is doing with the huge amount of loans it has taken.
Unfortunately, the administration is simply cashing in on the sentiments of Nigerians, equally knowing that many Nigerians are either uninterested, uninformed, and or unwilling to check for and verify the facts.
We Nigerians must indeed shine our eyes because it is definitely going to get worse as the race for 2027 heats up.
#GodBlessNigeria
©️ Uche Diala
druchediala@gmail.com
8th May, 2025
Opinion expressed in this article is solely personal to the author and not The DEFENDER Newspaper
