Atikiu To Tinubu: Reveal To Nigerians How Two Per Cent Of Nigeria’s GDP Went Missing, Calls For Probe
Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has called for an independent investigation into the Federal Government’s public finances following a reported disclosure by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that public expenditure equivalent to two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was omitted from recent budget documents.
In a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the reported development as a serious constitutional and fiscal concern, arguing that Nigerians deserve a full explanation of how such expenditure occurred outside the budgetary process.
Citing Section 80 of the 1999 Constitution, Atiku maintained that all withdrawals from the Consolidated Revenue Fund must be authorised by the National Assembly through appropriations, adding that any expenditure outside that framework raises questions of accountability.
The former Vice President linked the reported IMF disclosure to the recent controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), arguing that the two issues point to what he described as weaknesses in public financial management and institutional accountability.
According to him, government officials should explain how the alleged agency was recognised by public institutions and under whose authority it operated. He specifically urged the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to provide clarification on the matter.
Atiku also referred to allegations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi concerning an alleged demand for a kickback connected to the agency’s proposed take-off grant, stressing that the claims remain unproven but are serious enough to warrant an open and independent investigation.
He said the government should either clear the allegations through a transparent inquiry or ensure that anyone found culpable faces the full weight of the law.
The ADC presidential candidate argued that the issues come at a time when Nigerians are grappling with economic hardship arising from subsidy removal, rising inflation, higher electricity tariffs and increased taxation, making accountability in public spending even more imperative.
He called on the National Assembly, the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Public Accounts Committees, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the reported budget discrepancies and establish the facts.
According to Atiku, the matter goes beyond partisan politics and concerns adherence to constitutional provisions governing public finance. He insisted that every expenditure should be properly accounted for and urged the government to provide answers to questions surrounding the reported omission of public spending from the national budget.
The Presidency has previously denied the existence of the alleged PFIPC and rejected allegations of wrongdoing. As of the time of Atiku’s statement, the Federal Government had not publicly responded to his latest claims regarding the reported IMF disclosure.
It would be recalled that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently revealed that the Federal Government omitted public spending equivalent to about 2% of Nigeria’s GDP, approximately N8.8 trillion, from recent official budgets.
According to the IMF, this off-budget spending distorted reported fiscal deficits and understated the nation’s true borrowing requirements.
The missing 2% stems largely from large-scale government capital projects that were executed entirely outside of the formal budget process.
As gathered this expenditure was absent from budget documents and implementation reports, the government’s official fiscal deficit appeared much smaller than its actual accumulation of debt. This complicates fiscal and monetary policy coordination, as policymakers lack a complete picture of public financing needs.
