The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it spent more than ₦8 trillion outside the 2026 budget, describing the reports as inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the International Monetary Fund’s 2026 Article IV Consultation Report.

The government said the allegations, which referenced comments attributed to the IMF Representative in Nigeria and the Fund’s report, wrongly suggested that about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product was expended outside the approved budget.

This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.

The rebuttal comes after IMF disclosed that Nigeria left public spending equivalent to about 2% of GDP unreported in recent official budgets, obscuring the country’s true financing needs and making the fiscal deficit appear smaller than it actually was.

Speaking in Lagos, IMF Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, said, “So far we think that there are about two per cent of GDP of expenditure that were not reported that should be reported and should be recorded, so that this statistical discrepancy will disappear.”

Reacting, opposition figures, including Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the National Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of entrenched corruption and called for probe.

But Oyedele said the Federal Government does not operate a “shadow budget” or spend public funds outside the constitutional and statutory framework.

“The Federal Government has noted recent public commentary alleging that approximately two per cent of GDP amounting to over ₦8 trillion was spent outside the approved budget based on references to the IMF Representative in Nigeria and the Fund’s 2026 Article IV Consultation Report.

“These claims are incorrect and risk misleading the public regarding the government’s financial management,” the statement said.

Oyedele explained that under Sections 80 to 83 and 162 of the 1999 Constitution, public funds could only be withdrawn and spent in accordance with the Constitution and laws enacted by the National Assembly.

He said Federal Government spending was undertaken through duly enacted Appropriation Acts, Supplementary Appropriation Acts and other statutory authorities approved by the National Assembly.

The minister added that multi-year capital projects implemented across different budget cycles and approved capital rollovers were recognised components of public financial management and should not be misconstrued as spending outside the budget.

“It is inaccurate to suggest that trillions of naira have been secretly spent outside legislative approval. Such allegations should have identified the specific projects purportedly executed without appropriation or legal authority and present credible evidence in support of the claim,” he said.

Oyedele also clarified that statutory transfers, debt service obligations, first-line charges and intervention mechanisms established by Acts of the National Assembly formed part of Nigeria’s public finance framework.

He listed statutory allocations to development commissions, revenue collection costs retained by designated agencies, separately approved capital budgets for some agencies and the Federal Capital Territory, security and infrastructure interventions, disaster response programmes, and debt servicing obligations among expenditures authorised by law.

“These expenditures are neither secret nor illegal. They are established by law, disclosed in various fiscal reports, and subject to applicable oversight, audit and accountability mechanisms,” he stated.

The minister further rejected suggestions that the reported amount represented an increase in Nigeria’s fiscal deficit.

“A fiscal deficit is determined by the relationship between total government revenues and total government expenditures. Whether a capital project is financed through annual appropriations, supplementary appropriations, statutory transfers, approved intervention mechanisms, or other lawful financing arrangements does not, by itself, increase the fiscal deficit,” he added.

He said the IMF’s observations focused on improving the comprehensiveness, timing and presentation of fiscal reporting rather than questioning the legality of government expenditure.

According to him, Tinubu had already asked the National Assembly during the presentation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill on December 19, 2025, to end the practice of operating multiple and overlapping budgets and instead adopt a single, harmonised budget framework.

Oyedele said the Federal Government remained committed to prudent fiscal management, transparency and accountability, noting that recent reforms had strengthened budget credibility, revenue administration, treasury management and the digitalisation of government financial processes.

“The Federal Government will continue to uphold the rule of law, maintain transparency in the management of public resources, and work with the National Assembly, oversight institutions, development partners and the Nigerian people to further strengthen fiscal governance in line with international best practices,” he added.

He urged members of the public to base debates on accurate facts and a proper understanding of Nigeria’s constitutional and fiscal framework, warning that misrepresenting technical observations as evidence of unlawful expenditure undermined informed public discourse.

…Says Nigerians are starving while Tinubu amasses funds for 2027 Election War Chest

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of operating a ₦8.8 trillion “shadow treasury” outside the national budget, alleging that the funds are being amassed as a war chest for the 2027 general elections while Nigerians face worsening economic hardship.

Atiku, the 2027 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, raised the alarm on Friday in a statement, citing a July 1, 2026, International Monetary Fund Article IV report published by Reuters.

The ADC leader said the IMF report revealed that about 2 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, estimated at ₦8.8 trillion based on a ₦441.5 trillion economy, was spent in recent budgets without statutory recording, audit or legislative oversight.

“I view this revelation with the gravest alarm,” Atiku said. “The Tinubu administration is awarding multi-trillion-naira contracts, moving massive public capital, and commissioning infrastructure projects entirely beyond the reach of the Auditor-General, the nation’s procurement laws, and the legitimate oversight of the National Assembly. It is a parallel fiscal universe, one governed by executive whim.”

He added that the IMF’s resident representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, confirmed the discrepancy arose from “large-scale government projects executed off-budget entirely.”

Atiku likened the alleged practice to the “Alpha Beta arrangement” in Lagos State during Tinubu’s tenure as governor, where he claimed between 10 and 30 percent of internally generated revenue disappeared before budget capture.

“What the IMF has now documented at the federal level is that same Lagos playbook, replicated at national scale and with national consequences,” he said.

“The man who perfected the art of the off-budget economy in Lagos has brought that ‘Beta’ form to Abuja, and the price is being paid by 220 million Nigerians.”

The former vice president also alleged that ₦800 billion was “illegally deducted” from statutory allocations due to state governments under the Progressives Governors Forum, without National Assembly approval or court order.

“We state clearly and without equivocation that this ₦800 billion, combined with the ₦8.8 trillion in unrecorded federal expenditures, points unmistakably to the construction of a massive, multi-source political war chest being assembled ahead of the 2027 general elections,” Atiku said.

Atiku linked the alleged secret spending to the current economic pain, including fuel subsidy removal, naira devaluation, and high interest rates.

“While the poor were told to bleed, the government maintained access to a ₦8.8 trillion shadow treasury, entirely outside public view, entirely beyond legislative oversight,” he said. “The interest rates crushing Nigerian businesses, the weak Naira destroying Nigerian savings… are not the unavoidable consequences of global headwinds. They are, at least in part, the direct result of a government that has removed from the productive economy ₦8.8 trillion.”

He noted that the ₦8.8 trillion is equivalent to about $5.5 billion, the same scale as the $10 billion economic stimulus he proposed during the 2023 campaign.

Atiku called for immediate action from democratic institutions:

He asked the National Assembly to convene emergency investigative hearings on the IMF findings.

He equally said the Auditor-General should conduct a full, independent audit of all off-budget expenditures and publish findings without redaction.

Atiku insisted the Federal Government should provide a full public account of every naira spent outside the official budget, including projects, contractors and authorising officials.

He also said the Federal Government should refund to states immediately and restore the ₦800 billion deducted from state allocations.

The former Vice President said EFCC and ICPC should open formal investigations independent of the Presidency.

Civil society and the international community should respond with urgency to the disclosure, he urged.

“A government that governs in secret spends in secret. A government that spends in secret does not govern; it plunders,” Atiku said.

“The evidence is on the record. The figures are not in dispute. The only question… is whether we will summon the collective will to demand accountability.”

As of press time, the Federal Government had not issued an official response to Atiku’s allegations.

Human rights activist, Dickson Iroegbu, has said that there would be a revolution if anybody stops the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, from being on the ballot in the 2027 general elections.

Iroegbu made this statement in an interview on Mic-On podcast with a media personality, Seun Okinbaloye, on Saturday night.

This comes amid confusion over the status of the NDC following the judgement of the Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State.

Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC had earlier denied the NDC access to its portal for the upload of candidates.

It, however, later rescinded that decision.

But, Iroegbu, who spoke in an interview on Mic-On podcast with a media personality, Seun Okinbaloye, on Saturday night, charged the INEC to be careful if it thinks there would be a glitch in 2027.

He noted that the electoral body will be shocked because the Nigerian people will keep eternal vigilance this time around because they have had enough.

According to him, the fear of the NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, is a challenge for the All Progressives Congress, APC, and President Bola Tinubu.

“There will be revolution and anarchy in the land if anybody thinks he can stop the NDC from being on the ballot.

“Anyone who thinks he can push the NDC aside is calling for anarchy.

“Tinubu is overrated. He may have succeeded in grabbing and running with power in 2023. But in 2027, he will be shocked that we will hold him down and ensure the result is counted.

“If Nigerians do not end the APC, then APC may end Nigeria,” he stated.