Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
ABUJA, Nigeria — The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has launched a blistering attack on the administration of President Bola Tinubu, accusing it of presiding over "grand corruption" following the release of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report revealing that approximately ₦8.83 trillion in government expenditure was not captured in the 2025 national budget.
In a statement posted on his X account on Sunday, July 5, 2026, Obi described the development as "horrible" and argued that the unbudgeted spending was outside legislative oversight and administrative scrutiny, constituting a fundamental breach of public financial management. "The recent report from the IMF consultation further raises concerns about the scale of grand corruption under the Tinubu government," Obi said. "The IMF now reveals that about N8.83 trillion in expenditure undertaken in 2025 is not reflected in the budget. This expenditure is not budgeted and is therefore not under legislative oversight or administrative scrutiny. This is horrible."
Obi drew attention to the scale of the alleged off-budget spending, noting that the ₦8.83 trillion represents approximately two per cent of Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), more than 35 per cent of the country's ₦23.96 trillion capital expenditure budget for 2025, and exceeds the combined federal allocations to the education sector (₦3.52 trillion) and health sector (₦2.38 trillion). "If such an amount is properly used and accounted for, it could transform Nigeria's public health and education sectors. It could create hundreds of cottage industries that can provide jobs for thousands of graduates and build a solid foundation for economic development," he said. "But we cannot account for it."
The IMF's Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, had earlier disclosed that public spending equivalent to about two per cent of GDP was not reported in recent official budgets, obscuring the country's true financing needs and making the fiscal deficit appear smaller than it actually is. The unreported expenditure was linked to major government infrastructure projects executed outside the formal budget framework, a practice that complicates fiscal and monetary policy coordination, weakens oversight and transparency, and obscures the true size of Nigeria's fiscal deficit.
Obi alleged that the reported spending was not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of financial mismanagement under the current administration. "This is not an isolated incident. This is a pattern of grand corruption that has become part of this administration," he said. He further accused the government of disregarding public finance management rules, warning that such practices threaten national security, deepen poverty and weaken state institutions.
Describing the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration as "grossly corrupt, incompetent and insensitive," Obi argued that the alleged mismanagement of public resources had worsened the country's economic and social challenges. "The sort of corruption that is ingrained in total disregard of elementary rules of public finance management poses a grave danger to national security and the stability of the Nigerian state," he said.
Reiterating an earlier call for President Tinubu to resign, Obi said recent developments had reinforced his position that the President should step down over what he described as incompetence, lack of compassion and failure to fulfil campaign promises. "A few days ago, I called on President Tinubu to resign from office for incompetence, lack of capacity, lack of compassion, and failure to improve on his campaign promises," Obi said. "But with the daily revelations of pervasive corruption in this administration and its total lack of commitment to the welfare and security of Nigerian citizens, the only reasonable action is for President Tinubu to resign from office."
Obi urged Nigerians to demand greater accountability from the government and to hold the administration responsible through lawful and democratic means. "The collapse of elementary forms of due process under Tinubu and the increased evidence of rampant looting of Nigerian public finances reinforce the need for greater accountability. It is now time for Nigerian citizens to rise within the law and hold this administration to account," he said.
The IMF had noted that the unreported expenditure was linked to major government infrastructure projects executed outside the formal budget framework, warning that the practice complicates fiscal and monetary policy coordination, weakens oversight and transparency, and obscures the true size of Nigeria's fiscal deficit. The Fund, however, noted that the Federal Government had begun taking corrective measures, including revising budget laws to formally capture such expenditures, while calling for timely implementation reports and greater fiscal transparency.
As of the time of filing this report, the Presidency and the Federal Government had not issued an official response to Obi's allegations. However, the IMF's findings have already sparked a heated national debate, with opposition figures and civil society groups demanding answers over what Atiku Abubakar has called "the most consequential act of fiscal impunity in Nigeria's recent democratic history."
For Obi and his supporters, the issue is not just about money—it is about the integrity of Nigeria's democratic institutions and the accountability of those who govern. Whether the government will respond to the allegations or dismiss them as politically motivated remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the debate over fiscal transparency in Nigeria has only just begun.
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