Follow Us on Google
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has questioned the allocation of N1.08 trillion to the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, Enugu State, for the execution of 2,791 capital projects across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election, described the reported allocation as a disturbing development that raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability and fiscal discipline under the President Bola Tinubu administration.
His reaction followed a report by Tracka, a public accountability platform that monitors government budgets and constituency projects. The platform alleged that the college was designated to implement thousands of projects nationwide despite its statutory mandate as a tertiary institution for cooperative education.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku commended Tracka for bringing the matter to public attention, describing the revelation as one of the most troubling examples of alleged budget distortion in recent times.
He said the disclosure comes at a time when the Federal Government has continued to justify painful economic reforms, higher taxation and increased borrowing as necessary measures to stabilise the economy.
“Nothing exposes the hollowness of that claim more than a budget that turns a federal cooperative college into one of Nigeria’s largest project-implementing agencies.”
Atiku argued that the allocation raises fundamental questions about the credibility of the 2026 budget and undermines the administration’s repeated assurances of prudent public finance management.
Other News
According to him, it is difficult to justify how an institution established to promote cooperative education could suddenly become responsible for executing roads, drainage systems, solar street lights, markets, football pitches, dialysis centres, ambulances, water schemes, recycling plants, empowerment programmes and thousands of other projects spread across the country.
“It defies logic, public finance principles and the institution’s statutory mandate that a college established to promote cooperative education should suddenly become responsible for roads, drainage systems, solar street lights, markets, football pitches, dialysis centres, ambulances, water schemes, recycling plants, empowerment programmes and thousands of other projects scattered across the federation.
“Who decided that a cooperative college should become one of Nigeria’s biggest ministries by stealth? Under what law was it transformed into the implementing agency for 2,791 projects? Who nominated these projects, who approved them, who will supervise them, and who will be held accountable?” he asked.
Atiku further accused the Tinubu administration of operating what he described as “a medieval financial system” with little regard for transparency, accountability or the public interest.
“A government that says there is no money, removes fuel subsidy, raises taxes, accumulates unprecedented debt and demands endless sacrifices from Nigerians cannot simultaneously operate a budget that appears designed to hide public spending behind institutions with neither the statutory mandate nor the institutional capacity to execute projects of this magnitude.
“A government that plans to spend N1.08 trillion through a cooperative college cannot claim to be fighting waste or promoting fiscal discipline. It looks less like governance and more like a blueprint to defraud Nigerians,” he said.
The Federal Government has yet to respond to the allegations contained in the Tracka report or Atiku’s claims as of the time of filing this report.
