Federal Government Denies N8tn Extra-Budgetary Spending, Challenges Critics to Provide Evidence
The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it spent more than N8 trillion outside the approved national budget, describing the allegation as false and a misrepresentation of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2026 Article IV Consultation Report on Nigeria.
Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, said in a statement issued in Abuja that the Federal Government does not operate a “shadow budget” or expend public funds outside the constitutional and statutory framework governing public finance.
According to Oyedele, all federal spending is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution through duly enacted Appropriation Acts, Supplementary Appropriation Acts and other statutory approvals. He added that multi-year capital projects are also implemented under existing legal provisions that allow such projects to span different budget cycles.
He described as misleading claims that trillions of naira had been secretly spent without legislative approval, challenging those making the allegations to identify specific projects they believed were executed without appropriation or legal authority and provide credible evidence to support their claims.
Oyedele explained that the figures being cited relate to lawful expenditures already recognised under existing laws, including statutory transfers, debt servicing, allocations to agencies and development commissions established by law, revenue collection costs retained by designated agencies, National Assembly-approved capital budgets for some agencies and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as special interventions for security, infrastructure and disaster response.
“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 said.
The tax reform committee chairman also rejected suggestions that the reported amount represented an increase in Nigeria’s fiscal deficit, explaining that the deficit is determined by the difference between government revenue and total expenditure, and that financing approved projects through statutory transfers, supplementary appropriations or other lawful mechanisms does not automatically widen the deficit.
He clarified that the IMF’s observations were largely about the comprehensiveness, timing and presentation of Nigeria’s fiscal reports rather than the legality of government expenditure. He added that the Tinubu administration had already begun addressing the issue by working towards harmonising multiple government budgets into a single, coordinated fiscal framework.
Oyedele reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to prudent fiscal management, transparency and accountability, noting that ongoing reforms in budgeting, revenue administration, treasury management and the digitalisation of public finance had strengthened Nigeria’s fiscal governance and earned recognition from the IMF, international credit rating agencies and other global institutions.
The government’s response follows calls by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi for a probe into the alleged N8 trillion extra-budgetary expenditure. Obi, citing the IMF report, claimed the spending was not captured in the 2025 Appropriation Act, represented about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, exceeded the combined allocations to education and health, and reflected what he described as a pattern of grand corruption and weak public financial management.