President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to depart Abuja on Thursday for Makkah, Saudi Arabia, to perform Umrah and pray for Nigeria’s peace, unity, stability and progress.

According to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the visit will provide Tinubu an opportunity for spiritual reflection, devotion and prayers for the country.

While in Makkah, the President will perform the religious rites associated with Umrah, an Islamic spiritual exercise involving a pilgrimage to the holy city, and seek Allah’s guidance and blessings for Nigeria and its people.

Before departing Abuja, Tinubu will commission equipment acquired by the Nigerian Air Force for its operations at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

The President is expected to return to Nigeria next week after completing the spiritual exercise.

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said President Bola Tinubu’s request for approval to borrow $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion vindicates his October 12 warning about a loan plan of up to $20 billion.

Atiku said the President’s failure to identify the specific projects the loans would fund raises serious concerns that borrowed public money could be channelled through the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, now rerouted inland, to political campaigners and favoured contractors.

In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said:

“On October 12, I warned Nigerians that President Tinubu was reportedly preparing to borrow up to $20 billion in connection with the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway. I asked him to confirm or deny the plan and publish the accounts. He did neither. Today, he has asked the Senate to approve $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion in external loans. My warning has been vindicated.

“The President has listed broad sectors but has not provided a project by project account of what this enormous borrowing will fund. Nigerians have not been given clear project details, costs, locations or contractors to scrutinise.

“That silence is especially troubling given the highway’s inland rerouting. Nigerians have every right to ask whether it is becoming a pipeline for borrowed money to reach Tinubu’s campaigners and favoured contractors. Barely 12 weeks before an election, how can the President ask lawmakers to saddle Nigerians with more than $20 billion and €1 billion in debt without identifying the projects and their costs? Is this a development plan for Nigerians or a campaign financing scheme dressed up as infrastructure?

“You cannot continue taking frivolous loans on the eve of your departure from office. Let it be on record that one of the first responsibilities I will undertake as President is to scrutinise and investigate every kobo borrowed, especially loans taken in the final year of your tenure. Nigerians will ask questions, and we will find the answers by every lawful means.

“I put local and international lenders on notice: any loan granted to this winding down administration must meet all constitutional, statutory and due process requirements. Upon assumption of office, I will scrutinise every such loan. Any borrowing found to have been obtained without proper authorisation or process will be challenged and will not be allowed to stand.

“The National Assembly must not approve a single dollar until the President publishes every project, contract, cost, contractor, loan term and repayment obligation. No public money should be borrowed in the dark, and no lawmaker should sign a blank cheque against Nigeria’s future.”

Atiku said the burden was on Tinubu to prove that the borrowing would serve the country, not his political interests. He urged lawmakers to publish the proposal and supporting documents and subject them to rigorous scrutiny before any decision.

He added that families already struggling with a cost of living crisis should not be made to carry debts they did not approve. The woman fighting to keep her business alive and the worker spending their income just to feed deserve to know where the money is going, who will benefit and who will pay. At the ballot box, Nigerians will have the chance to reject a government that borrows against their future while taking their sacrifices for granted.

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) presidential candidate, Seyi Makinde, on Thursday, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s “Emi Lokan” slogan ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Makinde said Nigerians do not need “turn-by-turn nepotism”, arguing that voters should be free to decide who becomes the country’s next president in 2027.

The Oyo State governor spoke during the APM’s town hall meeting in Akure, Ondo State.

Makinde asked: “How can someone say ‘Eemi lokan’ in a country like Nigeria? You were given the opportunity. If you recall the 1999 presidential election, the South-West voted massively for Baba Olu Falae, but the rest of Nigerians voted for Baba Obasanjo. So, this is not an issue that only the South-West can resolve; it is an issue we must address collectively as Nigerians.

“We do not want ‘turn-by-turn nepotism’, nor do we want a situation where people say, ‘I will vote for projects because it is my turn’. You will not finish those projects, and when it becomes someone else’s turn, they will do the same thing. We will end up with a Nigeria where we cannot get value for the resources belonging to Nigerians.

“The Reset Nigeria agenda is about building a country where infrastructure development supports economic growth and addresses the concerns of young people and women.

“Once we fix our economy, no zone will be left behind, and no demographic group will be left behind.”