Atiku Seeks Probe into ‘Unexplained’ N12.8 Trillion in 2026 Budget

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has called on the National Assembly to rise above partisan considerations and immediately commence a comprehensive, line-by-line investigation into every allocation under the Service-Wide Vote, particularly the N2.19 trillion personnel provision.

He said parliament must insist on full disclosure of the beneficiaries, legal basis, and spending framework for every kobo appropriated under the heading.

“A government that cannot explain where trillions of naira are going has forfeited the moral authority to demand sacrifice from its citizens. It is time to open the books, expose the truth and restore integrity to Nigeria’s budgeting process. The Nigerian people deserve nothing less.”

Speaking through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the 2026 federal budget as the most brazen assault on transparency and fiscal responsibility in Nigeria’s democratic history, following shocking revelations surrounding the unprecedented allocations concealed under the Service-Wide Vote (SWV).

Atiku said the discovery that 84 per cent of the entire 2026 budget was concentrated in just 10 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with an astounding N12.8 trillion warehoused under the Service-Wide Vote in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, exposed what appeared to be a deliberate architecture for opaque and unaccountable spending.

He noted that while the Service-Wide Vote stood at N638 billion in the 2025 budget, it has inexplicably ballooned to N12.8 trillion in the 2026 Appropriation Act—an astonishing increase of approximately 1,918 per cent in just one year.

“President Tinubu owes Nigerians a detailed explanation. No responsible government can expect citizens to accept a nineteen-fold increase in a notoriously opaque budgetary provision without disclosing exactly who will spend the money, what it will be spent on, and under what legal authority.

“Should the Tinubu administration fail to come clean on this unprecedented N12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote, Nigerians would be justified in suspecting that these enormous sums are being stashed away to bankroll the APC political machinery and President Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027. A government with nothing to hide does not conceal trillions behind opaque budgetary headings,” Atiku said.

The former Vice President further queried how the Federal Ministry of Finance, the nation’s principal treasury institution, has a personnel allocation of only N54.8 billion, while the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning is carrying an eye-watering N2.19 trillion personnel provision under the Service-Wide Vote.

“Who exactly are the workers earning N2.19 trillion? Where are they? What offices do they occupy? What agencies do they belong to? This is not budgeting; it is budgetary absurdity. Nigerians deserve to see the payroll.”

Atiku said while the combined allocations to education, defence and agriculture fell below the amount hidden under the Service-Wide Vote, trillions of naira have been parked under vague and discretionary headings with no clearly defined obligations.

He warned that such unprecedented concentrations of unmarked funds inevitably raise serious questions about their intended use and demand the highest level of public scrutiny.

“The 2026 Appropriation Act is fast becoming a document that reeks of fiscal manipulation. At a time when Nigerians are being asked to endure hardship, government cannot simultaneously hide trillions behind budgetary euphemisms and expect public trust.

“Every unexplained trillion is a trillion diverted from classrooms, hospitals, security, food production and economic growth.”