Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the President Bola Tinubu-led administration of spending about N8.8 trillion outside the country’s official budget, citing a recent International Monetary Fund, IMF, report.
In a statement personally signed on Saturday, Atiku said the IMF report indicated that public expenditure equivalent to about 2 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was not captured in the federal government’s official budget.
According to him, the amount translates to about N8.8 trillion that was allegedly spent “outside the statutory framework of Nigeria’s official budget documents.”
“This figure translates to a staggering N8.8 trillion in public funds spent entirely outside the statutory framework of Nigeria’s official budget documents, unaccounted for, unaudited, and hidden from the Nigerian people,” he said.
The former vice president described the development as “the most consequential act of fiscal impunity in Nigeria’s recent democratic history,” urging the National Assembly, civil society organisations and the media to investigate the matter.
Quoting IMF Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, Atiku claimed the discrepancy resulted from “large-scale government projects executed entirely off-budget.”
He alleged that the administration was executing multi-trillion naira projects beyond the oversight of the National Assembly and other accountability institutions.
“It is a parallel fiscal universe, one governed by executive whim, shielded from the constitutional accountability that the Nigerian people are owed,” Atiku stated.
The ADC presidential candidate also alleged that about N800 billion had been deducted from statutory allocations due to state governments without legislative approval, claiming the funds could be used to build a political war chest ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Atiku further cited the controversy surrounding the N1.3 billion budgetary allocation for the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, arguing that it reflected poor fiscal transparency.
He maintained that Nigerians were being subjected to economic hardship through policies such as fuel subsidy removal, naira devaluation and high interest rates while, according to him, huge public funds were being spent outside the approved budget framework.
