Northern Elders Forum (NEF) called on Nigerians to speak out against what it described as reckless and unsustainable borrowings by the federal government, warning that the country’s economic future is being dangerously mortgaged.
In an open letter addressed to Nigerians, NEF said silence in the face of mounting public debt amounted to complicity. It stressed that the country was no longer dealing with routine fiscal decisions but a pattern of borrowing marked by weak accountability and democratic neglect.
In the letter signed by NEF spokesperson, Professor Abubakar Jiddere, the group expressed concern over the federal government’s reported move to secure an additional N17.89 trillion loan to fund the 2026 budget, even though the budget had not been debated by the National Assembly.