Federal government clears air on external borrowings

The minister of information and culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has said the federal government is borrowing to build world-class infrastructure and not for recurrent expenditure.

The minister disclosed this during his opening address at the town hall meeting organised by his ministry on destruction of telecommunications and power infrastructure in Borno state.

The minister was reacting to critics of the government who believe that the borrowed funds were meant for recurrent expenditure.

Lai Mohammed said that contrary to this notion,  government had achieved so much with the borrowed funds in the areas of rail line and road construction, airport upgrade and power infrastructure among others. He decried the ongoing destruction of public infrastructure by hoodlums across the country which he described as a sabotage to government efforts.