Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president and a presidential contender for the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has called on President Bola Tinubu to disclose the individuals behind what he described as theft of money equal to 2% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product. Abubakar said Nigerians deserve a clear explanation of who authorised, approved, spent, and benefited from the missing funds.
Abubakar made the request in a statement released on Saturday through his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu. The intervention follows an International Monetary Fund (IMF) finding that Nigeria left out public spending equivalent to 2% of GDP from recent budget documents.
Quick facts
- Atiku Abubakar, an ADC presidential candidate, urged President Bola Tinubu to identify those responsible for 2% of GDP allegedly missing from the budget.
- The call came through a statement issued on Saturday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu.
- An IMF disclosure said Nigeria omitted public expenditure worth 2% of GDP from recent budget processes.
- Abubakar linked the issue to concerns about systemic institutional corruption and referenced the PFIPC controversy.
In his reaction, Abubakar argued that the IMF’s disclosure points to a long-standing pattern of institutional corruption during Tinubu’s tenure. He said the revelation arrives after the fallout from the controversial Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) matter, reinforcing concerns that public institutions are being used for unclear financial activities.
Abubakar also framed the issue as more than a technical budgeting mismatch, saying the country’s constitution does not treat budget procedures as optional. He cited Section 80, saying funds cannot be taken from the Consolidated Revenue Fund except through the process set out by the National Assembly.
He added that budget appropriations are the legal basis for all government spending, describing them as the authority behind every unit of public expenditure. On that basis, he argued that if spending equivalent to 2% of GDP was truly excluded from the budget process, Nigerians should be given a straightforward answer: who took the missing amount.
Abubakar said the matter should be treated as a constitutional, legal, and moral concern rather than an accounting error. “Money does not simply disappear from a national budget,” he said, arguing that someone must have authorised it, someone must have approved it, someone must have spent it, and someone must have benefited.
He concluded by stressing that public trust depends on a direct response to the central question of who stole the missing 2% of Nigeria’s GDP. Until that is addressed, Abubakar warned, he believes claims of transparency from the administration will not hold up with citizens.
