It also called on the president to make public the spending details and establish an independent audit on the spending of the loans obtained by the governments of the former presidents.
In a request under the Freedom of Information Act dated April 13, 2024, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP said, the information may help to explain why, despite several billions of dollars in loans obtained by successive governments, millions of Nigerians continue to face extreme poverty and lack access to basic public goods and services.
SERAP said, according to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, the total public domestic debt portfolio for the country is N97.3tn ($108bn). The Federal Government’s debt is N87.3tn ($97bn).
It revealed that Nigeria paid the sum of $6.2bn in 2019, $6.5 in 2018, $5bn in 2017, $4.4bn in 2016 and $5.5bn as interest paid on loans in 2015 respectively.
The advocacy group said it is seriously concerned that substantial parts of the loans obtained by successive governments since the return of democracy in 1999 may have been mismanaged, diverted or stolen, and in any case remain unaccounted for.
It said publishing copies of the agreements would also ensure that persons with public responsibilities are answerable to the people for the performance of their duties including the management of the loans obtained between May 1999 and May 2023.
The group said Tinubu’s government had a responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability in how any loans obtained by the FG are spent, to reduce vulnerability to corruption and mismanagement.
SERAP noted that providing the copies of the loan agreements signed by the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, and widely publishing the agreements would allow Nigerians to scrutinize it and demand accountability for the spending of the loans.