The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar , has labeled President Bola Tinubu’s administration as one of the most fiscally reckless governments in Nigeria’s democratic history. This condemnation follows the discovery of over ₦210 billion in overlapping and duplicated allocations within the 2026 federal budget, which Atiku argues exposes a deep-seated lack of financial discipline and transparency at the highest levels of governance.

In a statement released by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku emphasized that Nigeria’s current economic struggles do not stem from a shortage of resources. Instead, the former Vice President maintained that the country’s challenges are driven entirely by a failure of leadership, requiring urgent governance reforms and a genuine commitment to accountability to prevent further budgetary mismanagement.

The former Vice President emphasized that Nigerians have endured relentless economic hardship for more than three years. He noted that citizens were forced to accept the removal of fuel subsidies, exchange rate unification, increased taxes, and higher tariffs as necessary, bitter pills to fix the economy. However, he pointed out that the government has failed to explain how over ₦210 billion was sneaked into the budget through duplicated and overlapping allocations. “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 candidate stated that Nigerians have witnessed budgetary allocations for projects outside the statutory mandates of agencies, controversial insertions running into billions of naira, and expenditures that bear little relationship to the pressing needs of ordinary citizens.

He added that rather than responding with transparency, the government has too often resorted to denial before reluctantly acknowledging problems when confronted with overwhelming evidence.

“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,” he said.

Atiku stated that a government that concealed ₦7.13 trillion behind a convenient euphemism while demanding sacrifice from millions of struggling citizens could not 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,” he demanded.

According to him, this pattern demonstrated that the problem is no longer isolated errors but a systemic breakdown in budget discipline.

“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,” Atiku added.

He 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.

He also urged 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 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,” he stated.