The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday accused the President Bola Tinubu administration of fiscal recklessness, alleging that the discovery of over ₦210bn in duplicated and overlapping allocations in the 2026 Appropriation Act reflected poor management of public resources.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, called on the National Assembly to immediately conduct a forensic review of the 2026 budget, identify officials responsible for the alleged duplicated allocations and ensure the recovery of improperly appropriated funds.
The former Vice President also urged the Auditor-General of the Federation, anti-corruption agencies and civil society organisations to independently scrutinise the budget and make their findings public.
According to him, the alleged budget irregularities, coupled with Nigeria's poor performance on global prosperity indices, had exposed what he described as the shortcomings of the Tinubu administration's economic reforms.
He argued that while Nigerians had been asked to endure the pains of subsidy removal, exchange rate unification and other economic policies, the government had failed to demonstrate fiscal discipline.
"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," Atiku said.
He added, "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."
The ADC chieftain further alleged that recent revelations from the audited financial statements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited indicated that ₦7.13tn was expended under "Energy Security Expenses," which he claimed amounted to petrol subsidy despite the Federal Government's declaration that subsidy had been removed.
According to him, the development raised questions about the transparency of the administration's economic policies and the management of public funds.
Atiku maintained that the alleged fiscal lapses had contributed to worsening economic conditions, with many Nigerians struggling with rising living costs, inflation, unemployment and business closures.
"A nation cannot budget for waste and expect prosperity. It cannot institutionalise inefficiency and hope for development," he said.
The former Vice President said a transparent budgeting process, stronger legislative oversight, digital expenditure tracking and greater accountability were necessary to restore confidence in public finance.
He pledged that an ADC-led administration would implement reforms aimed at strengthening budget integrity and ensuring prudent management of public resources.
The statement was signed by Shaibu and made available to journalists on Saturday.
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