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• Alleges N210 bn duplicated allocations in 2026 budget
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has raised alarm over alleged N210billion duplicated allocations in the 2026 budget, saying that the President Bola Tinubu administration cannot build prosperity on alleged deception.
Atiku, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, accused the Federal Government of fiscal indiscipline, noting that the consequences are evident in the country’s declining prosperity rankings.
The former Vice President noted that recently the country has witnessed cases of Budgetary allocations outside the statutory mandates of agencies, as well as alleged insertions of billions of naira and expenditures that have no bearing on the needs of the people.
Atiku, who is also the African Democratic Congress ( ADC) 2027 presidential candidate, stated that instead of responding to the issues with transparency, the government has” often resorted to denial before reluctantly acknowledging problems when confronted with overwhelming evidence.”
He stated that “For more than three years, Nigerians have been subjected to relentless hardship. They were told that fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification, higher taxes and rising tariffs were bitter pills that would eventually restore economic stability. Yet today, the same government cannot explain how more than ₦210 billion found its way into duplicated 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 riddled with duplication, questionable insertions, overlapping projects and expenditures that offend both common sense and fiscal responsibility.”
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The former Vice President added that “nothing illustrates the bankruptcy of this administration’s so-called reforms more than the fuel subsidy deception. Nigerians were told in 2023 that subsidy was gone and were compelled to endure unprecedented hardship—skyrocketing fuel prices, crushing transportation costs, runaway inflation and a collapsing standard of living—in the name of economic reform.
“ Yet NNPC Limited’s own audited 2024 financial statements now reveal that a staggering ₦7.13 trillion was still expended on what it calls ‘Energy Security Expenses,’ a category the company itself identifies as petrol subsidy, otherwise known as under-recovery. This means Nigerians were never told the whole truth. The subsidy was not eliminated; it was merely repackaged, renamed and quietly charged against the Federation.
“A government that conceals ₦7.13 trillion behind a convenient euphemism while demanding sacrifice from millions of struggling citizens cannot claim the moral authority to preach reform, prudence or fiscal discipline. Nigerians deserve to know who authorised this expenditure, who benefited from it, and why the administration chose to market deception as economic reform.”
Atiku called on the National Assembly to immediately conduct a comprehensive forensic review of the 2026 Appropriation Act, publish every duplicated allocation, identify every official responsible for inserting or approving such provisions and ensure that all improperly appropriated funds are recovered.
Furthermore, he charged the Auditor-General of the Federation, anti-corruption agencies and civil society organisations to carry out independent scrutiny of the budget and make their findings available to the Nigerian people.
“The national budget is the single 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 becomes contaminated by duplication and overlapping allocations, confidence in the entire machinery of government is undermined.
“The days when budget manipulation could be dismissed as mere clerical errors must come to an end. Every duplicated allocation represents a classroom not built, a hospital not equipped, a road left abandoned and a community denied development,” Atiku stated.
