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By Victor Osula, Abuja
Former Vice President of Nigeria and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said the shocking revelation of over ₦210 billion in overlapping and duplicative allocations in the 2026 federal budget, coming in the wake of Nigeria’s dismal performance on nearly 90% of globally recognized prosperity indicators, has exposed the Tinubu administration as one of the most fiscally reckless governments in Nigeria’s democratic history.
His senior special assistant for public communications, Phrank Shaibu, said the two independent reports had finally swept away the propaganda surrounding the administration’s so-called economic reforms and revealed a painful truth: Nigeria is not failing because of a lack of resources, but because of a profound failure of leadership.
“For more than three years, Nigerians have been subjected to relentless hardship. They were told that the removal of fuel subsidies, exchange rate unification, higher taxes and rising tariffs were bitter pills that would eventually restore economic stability. Yet today, the same government fails to explain how more than P210 billion ended up in duplicate and overlapping budget provisions.
“When a government asks its people to sacrifice, it must first demonstrate discipline. Instead, what Nigerians have seen is a budget full of duplications, questionable insertions, overlapping projects and expenditures that offend both common sense and fiscal responsibility.”
Atiku noted that this latest investigation did not emerge in isolation but adds to a growing catalog of troubling fiscal practices that have repeatedly raised serious doubts about the integrity of public finances.
“In recent months, Nigerians have witnessed budgetary allocations to projects outside the agencies’ statutory mandates, controversial insertions running into billions of naira, and expenditures that have little to do with the urgent needs of ordinary citizens. Instead of responding with transparency, the government has too often resorted to denial before reluctantly acknowledging problems in the face of overwhelming evidence.
“Nothing illustrates the failure of this administration’s so-called reforms more than the fuel subsidy scam. In 2023, Nigerians were told that the subsidies were over and were forced to endure unprecedented hardship – skyrocketing fuel prices, crushing transportation costs, runaway inflation and collapsing living standards – in the name of economic reform. Yet NNPC Limited’s 2024 audited financial statements now reveal that a staggering $7.13 trillion pounds were still spent on what it calls “energy security expenditure”, a category that the company itself identifies as an oil subsidy, otherwise known as under-recovery. This means that Nigerians have never been told the whole truth. The subsidy has not simply been repackaged, renamed and quietly charged to the Federation. Citizens cannot claim the moral authority to preach reform, prudence or fiscal discipline benefited and why the administration chose to market deception as economic reform.”
According to him, this model shows that the problem is no longer isolated errors, but a systemic breakdown of budgetary discipline.
“The national budget is the most important economic policy document of any government. It should reflect national priorities, inspire investor confidence and assure citizens that every naira borrowed or earned will be spent wisely. When that document itself is tainted by duplication and overlapping allocations, confidence in the entire mechanism of government is undermined.”
The former vice president said the consequences of this fiscal indiscipline are evident in the country’s declining prosperity ranking.
“While government officials celebrate selective macroeconomic indicators, Nigerians are experiencing a completely different economy. Families are skipping meals. Parents struggle to pay school fees. Small businesses close their doors. Manufacturers continue to battle soaring production costs. Young graduates are unable to find work. Farmers are caught between insecurity and inflation.
“It is therefore not surprising that Nigeria now lags behind its peers in almost every significant indicator of prosperity. A nation cannot budget for waste and expect prosperity. It cannot institutionalize inefficiency and hope for development.”
Atiku said the contradiction at the heart of the Tinubu administration has become impossible to ignore.
“On the one hand, the government claims that reforms are succeeding. On the other, it continues to borrow aggressively despite periods of higher oil prices, while revelations of double allocations raise legitimate questions about how public resources are being managed. The tragedy is not simply that Nigeria is borrowing; it is that Nigerians are increasingly uncertain whether such loans are producing commensurate value.”
He stressed that true reform requires the government to subject itself to the same discipline it demands of citizens.
“Reform without accountability is simply another name for difficulty. Fiscal adjustment without transparency is simply organized waste. Leadership is measured not by the number of speeches given but by the integrity with which public resources are managed.”
Atiku called on the National Assembly to immediately conduct a comprehensive forensic review of the Appropriation Bill, 2026, publish any duplicate appropriations, identify every official responsible for the insertion or approval of such provisions and ensure that all wrongly appropriated funds are recovered.
He also urged the Auditor General of the Federation, anti-corruption agencies and civil society organizations to carry out an independent audit of the budget and make the findings available to the Nigerian people.
“The days when budget manipulation could be dismissed as a mere clerical error must end. Each duplicate appropriation represents an unbuilt classroom, an unequipped hospital, an abandoned road and a community denied development.”
The former Vice President assured Nigerians that an ADC administration would restore the credibility of public finances through transparent budgeting, zero-based spending planning, digital monitoring of public expenditure, stronger legislative oversight and strict personal accountability for every public servant entrusted with taxpayers’ money.
“Nigeria’s biggest problem is not the absence of wealth. It is the absence of discipline in managing that wealth. A government that cannot protect the integrity of its budget cannot protect the future of its people.”
He concluded with an African proverb:
“When the stable owner invites goats to watch over his crop, he should not be surprised if hunger follows plenty. Nigeria deserves guardians of her commonwealth, not Bourdillon guardians of waste.”
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