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The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has renewed his call for President Bola Tinubu to resign following the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) disclosure that about ₦8.83 trillion in Nigeria’s 2025 expenditure was not captured in the budget.
The IMF’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, had said the off-budget spending, estimated at 2 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), made the country’s fiscal deficit appear smaller than its actual borrowing needs.
Reacting on Sunday via his X page, Obi described the revelation as evidence of poor fiscal accountability and alleged grand corruption in the current administration.
“The IMF now reveals that about ₦8.83 trillion in expenditure undertaken in 2025 is not reflected in the budget.
“This expenditure is not budgeted and is therefore not under legislative oversight or administrative scrutiny. This is horrible.
“It is more than the entire combined budget for education (₦3.52 trillion) and health (₦2.38 trillion).
“If such an amount is properly used and accounted for, it could transform Nigeria’s public health and education sectors.
“It could create hundreds of cottage industries that can provide jobs for thousands of graduates and build a solid foundation for economic development.
“But we cannot account for it. This is not an isolated incident. This is a pattern of grand corruption that has become part of this administration.
“We have a lot to worry about regarding the state of corruption under President Tinubu.
“The sort of corruption that is ingrained in total disregard of elementary rules of public finance management poses a grave danger to national security and the stability of the Nigerian state.
“The capture of the Nigerian state and the plunder of its resources are actions that undermine the basis of state stability and deepen poverty and state failure.”
Obi also insisted that the latest IMF disclosure, alongside worsening insecurity and economic hardship, justified his earlier demand that Tinubu should step down.
“A few days ago, I called on President Tinubu to resign from office for incompetence, lack of capacity, lack of compassion, and failure to improve on his campaign promises. Some people thought perhaps the call was excessive.
“But with the daily revelations of pervasive corruption in this administration and its total lack of commitment to the welfare and security of Nigerian citizens, the only reasonable action is for President Tinubu to resign from office.
“The collapse of elementary forms of due process under Tinubu and the increased evidence of rampant looting of Nigerian public finances reinforce the need for greater accountability.
“It is now time for Nigerian citizens to rise within the law and hold this administration to account.”
Obi’s renewed call comes a day after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the IMF’s disclosure on the alleged off-budget expenditure.
