Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says Nigeria’s fiscal structure under President Bola Tinubu’s administration is flawed despite increased revenue.
Abubakar spoke in a statement issued on Wednesday by Phrank
Shaibu, his senior special assistant on public communication, while reacting to
the recent World Bank report on Nigeria.
However, TheCable reports that the World Bank deleted the
report from its website three days after it was published.
“What the World Bank has revealed is both alarming and
unacceptable. Nigeria is earning more revenue today, yet the Nigerian people
are receiving less benefit from it,” the former vice-president said.
“This contradiction points not just to inefficiency, but to
a system vulnerable to abuse, leakage, and the possible diversion of public
funds.
“The report confirms what many Nigerians have long
suspected: that the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu operates an opaque
financial structure that enables systemic corruption.”
Abubakar said excessive deductions from national revenue
before distribution through the federation account have reduced funds available
for governance.
“When large portions of national income are deducted at
source, outside full legislative scrutiny, it creates fertile ground for
opacity, unaccounted spending, and financial recklessness,” he said.
“That is how nations lose track of their own wealth.”
He noted that the consequences are evident in declining
investments and worsening economic conditions.
“This is not just a technical fiscal issue; it is a moral
one,” he said.
“A government cannot ask citizens to endure painful economic
reforms while the gains of those reforms are trapped in a system that lacks
transparency and accountability.”
Abubakar called for urgent structural reforms in line with
the World Bank’s recommendations.
“All agency funding must be brought under the formal
budgetary process,” he said.
“Cost-of-collection mechanisms must be reviewed and reduced,
and the National Assembly must exercise full oversight over every naira earned
by this country. Anything less will only sustain a system where opacity thrives
and public trust is eroded.”
He warned against continued mismanagement of public
resources.
“We cannot continue on a path where rising revenues coexist
with deepening poverty,” he added.
“When the books are full, but the people are empty, it
raises serious questions about where the money is truly going.
“The purpose of governance is not to accumulate figures but
to improve lives, and that purpose is clearly being defeated.”
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