Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has accused the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of concealing a ₦12.8 trillion allocation in the 2026 Federal Government budget.
Atiku made the allegation in a statement issued on Monday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, claiming that the funds were hidden under the Service-Wide Vote (SWV) of the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.
The former vice president described the 2026 budget as a major threat to transparency and fiscal accountability, alleging that the huge allocation lacked sufficient details on its purpose and beneficiaries.
According to him, about 84 per cent of the 2026 budget is concentrated in 10 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with the controversial ₦12.8 trillion placed under the Service-Wide Vote.
Atiku claimed that the allocation represented a sharp increase from the ₦638 billion provided for the same vote in the 2025 budget, describing the rise as an unex
plained 1,918 per cent jump within one year.
“President Tinubu owes Nigerians a detailed explanation. No responsible government can expect citizens to accept a nineteen-fold increase in a notoriously opaque budgetary provision without disclosing exactly who will spend the money, what it will be spent on, and under what legal authority,” Atiku said.
He further alleged that failure by the government to provide clarification could raise suspicions that the funds were being reserved for political purposes ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“A government with nothing to hide does not conceal trillions behind opaque budgetary headings,” Atiku added.
The Tinubu administration has not, however, publicly responded to the allegations at the time of this report.
Samuel Agada is a writer and media contributor from Olamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. He is a graduate of Biochemistry from the University of Jos and a former banker with GTBank and FCMB. A prolific writer, songwriter, educator, and Gospel preacher, he is passionate about informing, inspiring, and impacting society through his work.