Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government over what he described as “fiscal recklessness” in the management of Nigeria’s national budgets.
In a statement posted on his official X account on Monday,
Obi questioned which budget Nigeria is currently operating, ahead of the
expected approval of the 2026 national budget by the Senate on March 17.
He noted that since 2023, Nigeria has been implementing
budget items from multiple fiscal years simultaneously, describing the practice
as abnormal and harmful to public finance management.
According to Obi, President Bola Tinubu inherited a N21.83
trillion budget in 2023 but later introduced a N2.17 trillion supplementary
budget, which he said prioritised benefits for public office holders despite
widespread economic hardship.
He further stated that the pattern continued with the
approval of N35.06 trillion for 2024 and N54.99 trillion for 2025, bringing
total appropriations under the current administration to over N114 trillion in
less than three years.
Obi expressed concern that despite the massive spending,
budget implementation has remained below 50 per cent, leading to what he
described as a crisis of credibility in public finance.
He also criticised the government’s decision to repeal and
re-enact the 2024 and 2025 budgets with extended timelines, saying Nigerians
were not provided with details of the revised budgets or their capital
projects.
The former Anambra State governor accused the Federal
Government of lacking transparency, alleging that treasury reports were no
longer being published on the OpenTreasury.gov.ng platform and that no budget
implementation report was released in 2025.
Obi warned that no country could succeed under such fiscal
practices and called on the government to restore discipline in budget
management.
“This lack of transparency is not accidental; it reflects a
deliberate pattern of undermining public scrutiny and debate.
“The Federal Government has stopped publishing treasury
reports on the OpenTreasury.gov.ng portal, dismantling a vital transparency
framework inherited from the previous administration.
“In 2025, no budget implementation report was released,
regardless of how poor the performance was! No nation can operate with such
recklessness and succeed,” Obi said.
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