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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called for an independent investigation into what he described as missing public expenditure after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Nigeria excluded spending equivalent to two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from recent budgets.
The IMF, in its recent assessment of Nigeria’s public finances, raised concerns about its fiscal reporting, noting that public expenditure equivalent to about two per cent of GDP was not reflected in the country’s budget framework, and recommended stronger fiscal transparency and public financial management.
In a statement issued on Saturday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that the IMF’s findings pointed to a serious failure in public financial accountability and questioned how such a significant amount of government spending could have been omitted from official budget documents.
He said the omission should not be dismissed as a bookkeeping error, insisting that public funds could not disappear without authorisation, approval and beneficiaries.
According to him, Nigerians deserve to know who authorised, spent and benefited from the unreported expenditure.
Atiku described the development as evidence of institutional corruption, saying the issue had gone beyond an accounting discrepancy to become a constitutional, legal and moral concern.
“If, as the IMF has revealed, expenditure amounting to two per cent of Nigeria’s GDP was omitted from the budget process, then Nigerians are entitled to one simple question: Who stole the missing two per cent of our GDP?” Atiku said.
“This is no longer an accounting discrepancy” but “a constitutional, legal and moral scandal.
“Money does not simply disappear from a national budget. Somebody authorised it. Somebody approved it. Somebody spent it. Somebody benefited from it. Nigerians deserve to know who those people are,” he added.
The former vice president linked the IMF findings to the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which the Presidency has denied establishing, arguing that both incidents suggested broader weaknesses in public financial management.
He questioned government priorities, noting that while the Federal Ministry of Health reportedly received only ₦36 million from an allocation exceeding ₦218 billion, the controversial agency was allegedly allocated about ₦1.3 billion.
Atiku also called on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, to explain how the alleged council obtained official recognition within government institutions.
“Nothing better illustrates the warped priorities of this administration than a government that starves hospitals and healthcare programmes of funds while ghost agencies somehow find billions waiting for them. This is not fiscal management; it is institutionalised corruption,” Atiku said.
“The Secretary to the Government of the Federation owes Nigerians a duty of candour. He must come clean. The country deserves to know who authorised the recognition of the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and under whose directive government institutions accorded it official status,” he said.
He also referred to allegations by Adeniyi Adeyemi, who claimed to be the Director-General of the PFIPC, that the controversy began after he allegedly refused a demand from the Office of the Chief of Staff for a 48 per cent kickback on a proposed ₦27.3 billion take-off grant for the agency.
Atiku said the allegation was too serious to ignore and should be subjected to an open investigation. He maintained that if the claims were false, the government should clear those involved through a transparent probe, but if proven true, all officials connected to the matter should be removed from office and prosecuted.
He argued that the controversy comes as Nigerians continue to grapple with the effects of fuel subsidy removal, higher electricity tariffs, rising inflation, multiple taxes and growing public debt.
“If the allegations are false, let the government prove them through an open investigation. If they are true, then every official connected with this scandal, regardless of rank or office, must be removed immediately and handed over to the appropriate security agencies for prosecution,” he said.
“It is both ironic and cruel that citizens are being asked to make endless sacrifices while government itself cannot transparently explain where enormous public resources have gone,” he added.
The former vice president urged the National Assembly, the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Public Accounts Committees, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices (EFCC) and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the matter, insisting that every naira of public spending must be traced and accounted for.
“The books must be opened. Every naira must be traced. Every expenditure must be justified. Every official found culpable must be held accountable,” he said.
