Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the Federal Government’s latest plan to raise another N4 trillion bond to settle debts in the power sector as a scandalous display of fiscal recklessness, institutional dishonesty, and brazen contempt for public accountability.

Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said Nigerians have every right to be outraged by what is fast becoming a recurring cycle of borrowing, deception, and non-disclosure under the Tinubu administration.

He noted that no government acting in good faith can repeatedly raise funds to solve the same problem while refusing to account for previous funds raised for the very same purpose.

“The facts are as disturbing as they are damning. On December 20, 2025, the Federal Government announced the issuance of a ₦590 billion power sector bond to clear debts owed to generation companies and gas suppliers. Nigerians were told that the intervention would address the liquidity crisis in the sector and restore confidence in the electricity market,” Atiku said.

“Barely a month later, the government announced that a ₦501 billion bond issued under the same programme had recorded full subscription and would be deployed to settle verified obligations. Then, in April 2026, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved yet another ₦3.3 trillion plan to clear power sector debts.

“On each occasion, government officials spoke triumphantly, projecting the image of an administration that had finally found solutions to the sector’s perennial problems.

“Yet, in a stunning contradiction of those claims, the Association of Power Generation Companies has publicly disclosed that the debts remain largely unpaid. More troublingly, its Chief Executive Officer, Joy Ogaji, revealed that the ₦501 billion bond raised months ago to settle a negotiated portion of the debt remains unresolved.

“In simple terms, billions were raised, subscriptions were celebrated, announcements were made, and victory was declared, but the creditors are still waiting for payment.”

According to Atiku, what makes this development even more troubling is that President Tinubu, in his June 12 Democracy Day address, publicly touted a fresh debt-clearing initiative for the power sector as evidence of his administration’s commitment to reform.

Yet, the former VP said before the applause from that announcement could die down, Nigerians were confronted by the uncomfortable reality that previous debt-clearing bonds remain shrouded in unanswered questions.

Atiku stressed that democracy is not sustained by grand declarations; it is sustained by accountability, and that a government cannot celebrate a new solution while refusing to explain the fate of the old one.

He stated that the irony is striking: “On a day set aside to honour democratic accountability, Nigerians were presented with yet another borrowing proposal for the same problem that previous borrowings supposedly addressed.

“This raises a simple question that the Tinubu administration appears unwilling to answer: What happened to the money?

“There is an African proverb which says that when a man repeatedly returns to the marketplace with the same goat he claimed to have sold the previous day, the villagers are entitled to ask questions. The power sector debt has become that goat.

“It is supposedly settled every few months, only to reappear at the next press conference demanding fresh billions in public funds. Another proverb warns that a man who repeatedly dips his hands into a pot must not complain when people begin to count the spoons. The Nigerian people are counting, and what they are seeing does not add up.”

Atiku pointed out that there is a name for repeatedly collecting money to solve the same problem while the problem remains unsolved: “It is called a racket.

“What makes this scandal particularly alarming is the emerging pattern. The government announces a crisis. It raises debt in the name of solving the crisis. It celebrates the intervention. It refuses to provide a detailed account of how the funds were utilised. The problem remains.

“Then another borrowing programme is unveiled to solve the same problem all over again. That is not reform. That is not economic management. That is not governance. It is a revolving door of debt and opacity that would trigger investigations in any serious country.”

The tragedy, Atiku lamented, is that while government officials move from one announcement to another, ordinary Nigerians continue to suffer the consequences of a dysfunctional power sector because businesses are collapsing under crushing energy costs while manufacturers are struggling to remain competitive.

The former Vice President said families spend a significant portion of their income on alternative power sources, darkness remains a permanent feature of daily life yet, despite trillions committed to interventions, the only thing that appears to grow consistently is the size of the debt and the frequency of borrowing.

Atiku said President Tinubu must immediately provide Nigerians with a comprehensive account of every kobo raised under the various power sector debt settlement programmes.

“The government must disclose how much was raised, where the funds were domiciled, who received payment, what debts were settled, what obligations remain outstanding, and why fresh borrowing has become necessary despite repeated assurances that the problem was being addressed,” he said.

“Anything short of full disclosure will only reinforce the growing public perception that the power sector has become a conduit for financial manipulation rather than a vehicle for national development.”

No serious nation, Atiku argued, can continue to borrow its way into darkness and added that no responsible government repeatedly seeks fresh debt to settle liabilities it previously claimed to have settled.

Before another bond is issued, before another debt is raised, and before another round of self-congratulatory announcements is made, Atiku said Nigerians deserve answers.

“Until those answers are provided, this entire exercise will remain what it increasingly appears to be: a racket dressed up as reform and a scandal searching desperately for a cover story,” the former VP stated.