Taiwo Oyedele, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the federal government’s proposed $21.7 billion external borrowing plan is intended to fund investments, rather than burden the country.

Oyedele spoke on Wednesday while answering questions from State House correspondents after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The minister said the loans were intended to finance productive investments that would drive economic growth and improve Nigerians’ living standards.

On Tuesday, Tinubu asked the national assembly to approve the proposed external borrowing of $20.52 billion and €1.04 billion for projects and programmes across several sectors.

In the letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary, Tinubu said the proposed borrowing would support infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, education, water supply, security, employment generation and financial management reforms.

He said the plan was designed to accelerate economic growth and address the country’s infrastructure funding gap.

However, Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), urged the national assembly to withhold approval of the borrowing plan.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by Phrank Shaibu, director of strategic communication of the ADC presidential campaign council, Atiku questioned the timing and purpose of the proposed borrowing.

The former vice-president said the request vindicated his October 12 warning that Tinubu was preparing to borrow up to $20 billion for the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.

He said Tinubu had not provided sufficient details of the projects to be funded, including their locations, costs and contractors, to enable Nigerians to scrutinise the proposed expenditure.

Atiku also expressed concern that the loans could be channelled to political campaigners and favoured contractors, citing reports that the coastal highway had been rerouted inland.