According to Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom state, every serious government must have a debt profile.
The governor said many developed nations are in the habit of borrowing, hence it was only proper for developing countries to also take loans to finance developmental projects.
Governor Udom made the comments on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the corporate headquarters of Punch Nigeria Limited, Magboro, Ogun State.
When asked if his predecessor, Senator Godswill Akpabio, really left an empty treasury, Udom said: “What is the motive of holding money? You don’t just hold money to go and keep it in the treasury.”
Money is not supposed to be in the bank but to be used for something else. Any government that doesn’t owe is not serious because even America today is indebted to China to the tune of $1.3tn.
“If you pull out that amount of money from an economy do you think they will survive? They cannot. So, why are we shying away from owing? We should owe. As a state government I will not shy away from it but I will not collect money to go and do something that will not generate money.
“If developed nations are borrowing to progress, why wouldn’t I borrow? If you don’t owe, you cannot develop.”
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