A lawyer, Opatola Victor Esq @Adeopatola@gmail.com, has contradicted President Bola Tinubu on his claim that his Administration has cleared N30trn of the federal government’s ways and means debt, describing the claim as “a deliberate, wicked and outright, bare-faced lie.”
In a ‘disclaimer’ he posted on social media platforms, Opatola wondered how “President Tinubu can come out to say that his government has cleared ways and means debt,” insisting that the Administration has not, as a matter of fact.
“I, Opatola Victor, was the lawyer that handled the lawsuit against the federal government, CBN, Debt Management Office, Ministry of Finance and others, asking the court to declare the accumulated ways and means and securitization as illegal. So, I know as a matter of fact that this government never for once cleared that debt,” he declared.
“It only securitised that debt and, by doing so, converted trillions of naira worth of the federal government’s debt to Nigeria’s debt.
“This means a debt that the federal government was supposed to pay, a debt that the National Assembly elected by the people never approved its borrowing, a debt that the National Assembly couldn’t even determine how it was spent, a debt that the Nigerian people couldn’t manage or determine how it was spent; it is such a debt that has now been converted to a public debt that Nigeria and Nigerians must pay.”
President Tinubu had, in his Independence Anniversary speech, announced, as part of the achievements of his government, that the Administration has cleared ways & means debt of N30trn.
But, Opatola further explained that “the N30trn that President Tinubu mentioned in his Independence day speech that the government had cleared, was definitely a lie.”
“It was an intentional technical language used to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that a N30trn debt was actually cleared,” he sneered. “(But) it definitely wasn’t paid.”
According to the legal practitioner, the federal government appears desperate to be seen as an efficient and performing government.
“(But) it should cease and desist from telling bare-faced lies to its citizens,” Opatola stressed. “It must stop.”
