‘Not kind of money Nigerian Govt needs’ – Abati tackles Melaye over Opay, Moniepoint comment

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Veteran journalist and former presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, has dismissed recent comments made by former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye, suggesting that the Tinubu administration might resort to borrowing from top Nigerian fintech firms like Opay and Moniepoint.

Abati argued that such platforms do not provide the scale of funding required by the federal government.

Melaye had earlier criticized the current administration, accusing it of fiscal irresponsibility and questioning President Bola Tinubu’s claim that the nation had already met its revenue targets for the year 2025.

Speaking during a segment on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Abati noted: “Dino Melaye is a chieftain of the ADC, an opposition party, so you do not expect that he would praise the Tinubu’s administration.”

“He is a very articulate and outspoken personality, so he is accusing the president of borrowing. Now let’s look into the details, President Tinubu said ‘we have met revenue projections and are making a lot of money from non-oil and we are not borrowing from Nigerian banks’.

“I’m surprised that Melaye is talking about borrowing from MoniePoint and Opay. I don’t think that is the kind of money the Nigerian government will be looking for in terms of capacity.

“The other claim that he made that Tinubu has a yacht paid for by Nigerian taxpayers and it’s between Monaco and wherever. That is not true, when this issue of yacht came up, it wasn’t the Tinubu administration that talked about yacht, it was the Buhari’s administration in the 2023 Supplementary budget.

“At that time when the controversy came up and people were saying why yacht for the President? The Navy came forward and said it was a vessel they used for Naval operations that was named Presidential yacht and not for President Tinubu, so it’s not something that was purchased for luxury but you know in politics, you can bring up anything that is sensational.”

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