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Unrecorded N8tr expenditure: Atiku says Tinubu, APC diverting 2% of GDP for 2927 election
Former vice president and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC for the 2027 general election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress, AP, of covering 20 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP for the 2027 presidential election.
Atiku made the allegation while reacting to concern raised by the International Monetary Fund, IMF that the federal government has spent over N8 trillion with the money being recorded.
My attention has been drawn to a deeply troubling report by the International Monetary Fund, published on July 1, 2026 by Reuters, which reveals that the Tinubu-led APC administration failed to record public expenditures amounting to approximately 2 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product in recent official budgets. At the current valuation of Nigeria’s economy at approximately ₦441.5 trillion, this figure translates to a staggering ₦8.8 trillion in public funds spent entirely outside the statutory framework of Nigeria’s official budget documents, unaccounted for, unaudited, and hidden from the Nigerian people,” Atiku stated in a statement on Saturday.
In his words the former vice president said further that-“I view this revelation with the gravest alarm and call upon all Nigerians – the media, civil society, the National Assembly, and every democratic institution in this country – to set aside every distraction and direct their full attention to what is, by any reasonable standard, the most consequential act of fiscal impunity in Nigeria’s recent democratic history.
“A pattern of conduct, not an isolated incident, the IMF’s latest Article IV consultation, articulated by its resident representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, confirmed that this staggering discrepancy arises from large-scale government projects executed entirely off-budget. Let us be absolutely clear about what this means: 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, shielded from the constitutional accountability that the Nigerian people are owed.
“This conduct follows a pattern that is unmistakably familiar to anyone who has studied the fiscal governance of Lagos State under Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Governor. For years, Tinubu operated what has become widely known as the Alpha Beta arrangement, a revenue management structure under which between 10 and 30 percent of Lagos State’s internally generated revenue disappeared into private pockets before it was ever captured in the official budget. Revenues were siphoned at the point of collection, before they could be subjected to legislative appropriation, public scrutiny, or statutory accountability. The money simply vanished upstream, and what arrived in the treasury was already a fraction of what Lagosians had paid.
*What the IMF has now documented at the federal level is that same Lagos playbook, replicated at national scale and with national consequences. 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.
“This shadow economy does not operate only through unrecorded expenditures. It also operates through illegal extractions. We draw the attention of Nigerians to the ₦800 billion that has been illegally deducted from the statutory allocations of state governments, funds belonging to the federating units of this republic, unlawfully withheld and diverted without the authorisation of the National Assembly, without a court order, and without any constitutional basis whatsoever.
“State governments across Nigeria under the aegis of the Progressives Governors Forum have had their allocations raided to fund projects and purposes that have never been disclosed to the Nigerian public. 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.
“When a government operates a secret treasury of this scale at precisely the moment it needs to purchase electoral outcomes, the conclusion is not difficult to reach. The Tinubu administration is not reforming Nigeria’s economy. It is financing its own political survival with money that belongs to the Nigerian people.
“The recent public controversy over the ₦1.3 billion inserted into the 2026 Federal Budget for the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council, an agency the administration itself was forced to acknowledge did not exist, is now rendered far less surprising in this broader context. When a government can move ₦8.8 trillion in public money entirely outside its own official bookkeeping, the boundary between what exists and what is a phantom, between what is appropriated and what is stolen, ceases to have any practical meaning. The ghost agency and the shadow budget are not separate scandals. They are two expressions of the same governing philosophy: that public money belongs to those in power, to be deployed as they see fit, beyond the reach of the law and the knowledge of the public.
“The moral obscenity at the heart of this scandal demands to be named plainly. For three years, the Tinubu administration has subjected ordinary Nigerians to an unrelenting programme of economic austerity without precedent in our democratic era. The removal of the fuel subsidy, executed without preparation, without social safety nets, and without honest public accounting of the savings, detonated the cost of living across every stratum of Nigerian society. The Naira has been serially devalued, wiping out the purchasing power of workers, traders, small business owners, and pensioners. Interest rates have been driven to levels that have effectively shut small and medium enterprises out of the credit market, strangling the productive base of the economy and accelerating unemployment at a time when Nigeria’s youth population is growing faster than any other demographic on earth.
“Nigerians have been told, repeatedly and firmly, that the treasury is empty, that there is no alternative to the pain being administered, and that sacrifice today is the price of prosperity tomorrow. The government has borrowed at punishing interest rates on international markets, adding to a debt burden that will constrain the fiscal choices of Nigerian governments for a generation, all the while telling the public that every kobo of expenditure is being carefully accounted for and prudently managed.
“The IMF has now exposed that narrative as a big fat lie. 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, and entirely at the disposal of those who hold executive power. The interest rates crushing Nigerian businesses, the weak Naira destroying Nigerian savings, and the economic stagnation hollowing out Nigerian households 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 that should have been transparently appropriated, competitively allocated, and deployed in ways that create jobs, reduce the cost of capital, and strengthen the naira. This explains why contractors are owed and civil servants are not paid their salaries.
“I wish to place this figure in concrete human terms. In the 2023 presidential election, I presented to Nigerians a comprehensive economic recovery programme anchored on a $10 billion stimulus package, an intervention designed to recapitalise the productive economy, restore exchange rate stability, reduce the cost of borrowing for Nigerian businesses, and create millions of jobs across the agricultural, manufacturing, and technology sectors. Critics and supporters of the Tinubu administration dismissed that proposal as ambitious, even unrealistic, asking where the resources would come from. The IMF has now answered that question. ₦8.8 trillion, the equivalent of approximately $5.5 billion at current exchange rates, was available. It was not unavailable. It was not non-existent. It was simply being spent in the dark, by unaccountable hands, on undisclosed purposes, beyond the reach of the Nigerian public and their elected representatives. Had that money been transparently appropriated and deployed as part of a structured economic stimulus programme, Nigerian businesses would not be drowning in 35 percent interest rates. The naira would not be trading at levels that make the importation of basic inputs prohibitively expensive for manufacturers. Unemployment would not be at the catastrophic levels that are fuelling insecurity, emigration, and social despair across every geopolitical zone of this country.
“The poverty of Nigerian citizens today is not fate. It is policy, or more precisely, it is the consequence of the absence of transparent, accountable, productive economic policy, replaced by the private management of public resources for political purposes under the Tinubu-led APC administration,” Atiku concluded.
Atiku therefore demanded some immediate measure from government and other stakeholders as follows:
convene emergency investigative hearings on the IMF’s findings without further delay. The revelation of ₦8.8 trillion in unrecorded public expenditures is a constitutional emergency, not a matter to be managed through ministerial press conferences or diplomatic qualifications.
“Two, the Auditor-General of the Federation must be immediately empowered and directed to conduct a full, independent audit of all off-budget expenditures referenced in the IMF’s Article IV consultation, and those findings must be published in their entirety and placed in the public domain without redaction.
“Three, the Federal Government must provide a full and transparent public account of every Naira spent outside the official budget, identifying every project, every contractor, every procurement process followed, and every individual who authorised and benefited from these transactions.
“Four, the Federal Government must immediately restore to state governments the ₦800 billion unlawfully deducted from their statutory allocations and provide a complete account of how those funds were deployed.
“Five, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and every relevant law enforcement and anti-corruption agency must open formal investigations into both the unrecorded expenditures and the unlawful deductions from state allocations, independent of any political direction from the Presidency.
“Six, Nigeria’s civil society, the professional community, the business sector, and the international community, particularly the international financial institutions whose credibility is implicated when their findings are ignored, must respond to this disclosure with the urgency it demands.
“A government that governs in secret spends in secret. A government that spends in secret does not govern, it plunders. The Tinubu administration has been exposed, not by its political opponents and not by partisan advocacy, but by the International Monetary Fund, the most authoritative multilateral financial institution in the world, whose Article IV consultations carry the full weight of international economic credibility. The evidence is on the record. The figures are not in dispute.
“The only question that now confronts every Nigerian citizen, every elected representative, and every democratic institution in this republic is whether we will summon the collective will to demand accountability, or whether we will allow ₦8.8 trillion in unrecorded public expenditure, built on the same architecture of fiscal concealment that defined Lagos under Tinubu to become the accepted, unremarkable condition of governance in Nigeria.
“We will not accept it. And we call on every Nigerian who believes in the integrity of the public treasury, the sovereignty of the Nigerian people over their own resources, and the future of this republic to refuse to accept it as well,” Atiku said.
Rivers State Government will from Monday, August 17, begin the commissioning of 10 major people-oriented projects across the state as part of efforts by Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration to deepen development at the grassroots.
The commissioning programme, which will run through August 31, will cover projects across several local government areas, include roads, bridges, healthcare facilities, educational infrastructure and other public facilities.
The Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr Dagogo Wokoma, disclosed this on Friday during a media briefing in Port Harcourt.
According to Dr Wokoma, the projects are tangible evidence of the Governor’s commitment to transforming communities and addressing the developmental needs of residents across the state.
A statement by Juliana Masi, Head, Information and Public Relations Unit, office of the Secretary to the State Government, said that Dr. Wokoma disclosed that the commissioning will commence on August 17 with the Buguma-Degema-Abonnema Road, which links communities in Asari-Toru, Degema and Akuku-Toru Local Government Areas.
The Egwi-Afara-Mba Road in Etche Local Government Area will be commissioned on August 18, followed by the Capt. Elechi Amadi Polytechnic’s Entrepreneurship Centre/Engineering Faculty Building on August 19.
The statement which was shared by Onwuka Nzechi, Chief Press Secretary to the River State Governor also stated that on August 20, the Governor will commission the Elele-Egbeda-Omoku Dual Carriage Way in Ikwerre/Emohua/Onelga Local Government Areas, while the Omoku Zonal Hospital, Omoku in ONELGA, will be commissioned on August 21st.
The commissioning programme will resume on August 24 with the Omademe Internal Roads in Ikwerre LGA and attention will shift to Port Harcourt LGA on August 25 for the Commissioning of the New Runway at the Air Force Base, Rumuola.
On August 26, attention will shift to Emuoha LGA for the commissing of the Agba Ndele Road and Bridge while two major health facilities — the Neuro Psychiatric Hospital and New General Hospital, Rumuigbo, both in Obio/Akpor — are scheduled for commissioning on August 27.
The 10-day programme will end on August 28 with the commissioning of the Bonny National Grammar School in Bonny Local Government Area.
Dr. Wokoma said the projects reflected the administration’s determination to ensure that government policies and programmes affect citizens positively.
“These projects scheduled for commissioning are tangible evidence of His Excellency’s unwavering dedication to transform our communities and address the developmental needs of our people,” he said.
He added that the projects underscored the administration’s commitment to ensuring that governance produced “meaningful and measurable benefits for every citizen across the 23 Local Government Areas of the State.”
The SSG also acknowledged the contributions of government officials, contractors, host communities and other stakeholders to the completion of the projects as he urged Rivers people to participate in the commissioning activities and continue to support the administration in its pursuit of peace and development.
“We invite all Rivers people to join in celebrating these milestones and to continue supporting the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara as it advances peace, development, progress, and prosperity,” Dr Wokoma said.
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2027: Full text of what NHRC boss Tony Ojukwu said concerning rising incidences of hate speech, intimidation and threat to life
I welcome you to this press conference convened by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at a critical moment in our national life.
As Nigeria prepares for the 2027 General Elections, the Commission considers it necessary to draw public attention to the growing use of hateful, intimidating, intolerant, denigrating, violence, inflammatory and divisive rhetoric and its potential consequences for human rights, peaceful coexistence and democratic participation.
The NHRC, as Nigeria’s independent National Human Rights Institution with a mandate to promote, protect and monitor human rights, has a responsibility to speak whenever public discourse threatens peaceful coexistence, human dignity, equality, peace and the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms.
1. WHY WE ARE HERE
In recent weeks, the Commission has had cause to express concern over statements attributed to certain public figures, including Sheikh Sani Yahaya Jingir and Senator Francis Fadahunsi, which, in the assessment of the Commission, have crossed the red line for decency, have the potential to denigrate individuals or groups, deepen social divisions and heighten tensions and instigate violence.
The Commission reiterates that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. However, freedom of expression carries responsibilities. It does not provide a licence to incite violence, promote hatred, dehumanise others or deliberately provoke hostility against persons or communities.
Our intervention today is therefore not directed at any political party, religious group, ethnic community or individual. It is a human rights intervention aimed at protecting the dignity and equal worth of every person and preserving the conditions necessary for peaceful, credible and inclusive elections.
2. HATE SPEECH AND DIVISIVE RHETORIC: A HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERN
Hate speech should not be dismissed as mere political rhetoric or provocative language.
When public discourse portrays individuals or communities as enemies, inferior, dangerous or undeserving of rights and protection, it can contribute to discrimination, exclusion, intimidation and violence.
The consequences may include:
• Erosion of human dignity and equality;
• Incitement and escalation of violence;
• Discrimination against individuals and communities;
• Restrictions on meaningful political participation;
• Intimidation of voters and political opponents;
• Deepening of ethnic, religious and regional divisions; and
• Undermining of public confidence in democratic institutions.
These concerns are firmly rooted in Nigeria’s constitutional and international human rights obligations, including the protection of human dignity, equality, freedom of expression and peaceful participation in public affairs.
The appropriate response, however, must always be grounded in law, due process and respect for fundamental rights.
3. LESSONS FROM HISTORY
History has demonstrated that sustained denigrating, dehumanising and inflammatory rhetoric can create an environment in which discrimination and violence become increasingly acceptable.
The experience of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda remains one of the world’s most painful reminders of the destructive power of propaganda, denigration, dehumanisation and incitement.
Nigeria is not Rwanda, but the Commission suggests that the situation if unchecked could escalate circumstances into uncontrolled violence and chaos. God forbid. Nevertheless, the lesson is universal: societies must not wait until inflammatory rhetoric translates into violence before taking preventive action.
Prevention is a fundamental human rights obligation and the government has the primary responsibility under both national and international law to prevent violence and protect the people.
We must therefore identify and address dangerous narratives early, strengthen responsible public communication and ensure that those who cross the boundaries established by law are held accountable through lawful processes.
4. THE STAKES FOR THE 2027 GENERAL ELECTIONS
Elections should provide citizens with an opportunity to freely determine their political future.
The 2027 General Elections must therefore be contests of ideas, policies, programmes, competence and service—not contests defined by hatred, ethnic hostility or religious antagonism.
Unchecked divisive rhetoric can contribute to:
1. Political violence through attacks, intimidation and threats against opponents and voters;
2. Communal tensions by exploiting ethnic, religious and regional identities;
3. Displacement and insecurity where communities feel threatened or targeted;
4. Suppression of civic participation where citizens become afraid to speak, assemble or come out to vote freely;
5. Erosion of democratic institutions and public trust; and
6. Long-term social fragmentation that may persist long after an election has ended.
The protection of human rights and the prevention of election-related violence must therefore be regarded as complementary objectives.
5. THE POSITION OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
The NHRC unequivocally condemns hate speech, incitement to violence, intimidation, or dehumanising rhetoric and all forms of communication that threaten the dignity, security and rights of individuals or communities.
Accordingly, the Commission:
First, calls on all public officials, political actors, candidates and aspirants to exercise the highest level of responsibility in their public statements and political communication.
Second, urges political parties to call their party faithfuls to order and strengthen internal mechanisms for preventing and sanctioning intimidating and inflammatory rhetoric and to promote issue-based campaigns that respect rights.
Third, calls on religious, traditional and community leaders to use their considerable influence to promote peace, tolerance, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence rather to promote hate and violence and disunity.
Fourth, urges law enforcement and other relevant institutions to respond appropriately to credible cases of incitement, intimidation, threats and unlawful conduct, in accordance with the Constitution and applicable laws, while respecting due process and fundamental rights.
Fifth, calls on the media to uphold professional and ethical standards in reporting intimidating and inflammatory statements. Responsible journalism requires that potentially harmful content is not amplified without context, verification and appropriate public-interest considerations.
Sixth, calls on social media users and digital platforms to exercise responsibility in the creation and dissemination of content. Nigerians should verify information before sharing content capable of provoking hatred, hostility or violence.
Seventh, encourages citizens who experience or witness human rights violations to report them through appropriate lawful channels, including the National Human Rights Commission.
6. A CALL FOR RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP
The responsibility for preventing election-related violence does not rest with government or security institutions alone. Every Nigerian has a role to play.
To our political leaders, we say: compete on ideas, programmes, competence and your record of service—not on hatred or division.
To our religious and traditional leaders, we say: use your platforms to build bridges, promote tolerance and protect the dignity of every Nigerian.
To the media, we say: inform the public without becoming an amplifier of hatred or incitement.
To young Nigerians, particularly those who constitute a significant part of our online population, we say: do not allow yourselves to be used as instruments for spreading inflammatory content or misinformation.
And to all Nigerians, we say: our ethnic, religious and cultural diversity is not a weakness. It is part of the richness of our national identity.
7. THE WAY FORWARD
The NHRC will continue to monitor developments, document human rights concerns, engage relevant stakeholders and use its statutory powers to promote and protect human rights throughout the electoral cycle.
The Commission will also continue to advocate for a human rights-based approach to elections—one that places the dignity, safety, equality and participation of every Nigerian at the centre of the democratic process.
We must act before rhetoric becomes violence.
We must promote dialogue before division becomes conflict.
And we must protect human dignity before violations become irreversible.
8. CONCLUSION
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
The forth coming elections should be an opportunity to strengthen our democracy, not a trigger for division.
Nigeria has faced difficult moments before, and we have repeatedly demonstrated the capacity to overcome our differences. What we need now is responsible leadership, responsible communication and a renewed commitment to the fundamental principle that every Nigerian is entitled to dignity, equality and protection under the law.
The National Human Rights Commission will not remain silent when human dignity and fundamental rights are threatened.
We call on all stakeholders to join us in building an electoral environment in which disagreement does not become hatred, political competition does not become violence, and diversity does not become a justification for discrimination.
Let us disagree without dehumanising one another.
Let us compete without destroying one another.
Let us campaign without inciting one another.
And let us protect the Nigeria we all share.
I thank you for your attention.
I am now ready to take your questions.
*Chief Tony Ojukwu, OFR, SAN*
*Executive Secretary/CEO*
*National Human Rights Commission*
*President Network of National Human Rights Institutions*
*in West Africa*
News
Breaking: Court of Appeal rules in favour of Turaki -led PDP candidate for Osun governorship election
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday, ruled that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Gubernatorial Candidate in Osun State was validly nominated by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee.
The court also ordered INEC to list the PDP logo on the ballot ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
The Court held that access code is neither a creation of the Constitution nor the Electoral Act; rather, a creation of INEC’s guidelines and cannot, in any way, override the provisions of the Constitution.
Section 288 of the Constitution does not specify the method for nominating candidates; it only states that the names of candidates should be forwarded to the Commission.
The court further held that the defendant (INEC) should take steps to include the name of the appellant on the ballot paper.
Additionally, the court ruled that the primary election conducted by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP was a valid primary election in law.
The three-man panel of justices—Justice Mahmud, Justice Jaro, and Justice Ankawere, was unanimous in its judgment.
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