IMF Disclosure: Explain to Nigerians how two percent of GDP went missing – Atiku tackles Tinubu

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the Federal Government to explain what he described as the “missing two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)” following a disclosure by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that public expenditure equivalent to that amount was omitted from the country’s budget.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Atiku said the IMF’s revelation, alongside the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), raised serious concerns about public financial management under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He argued that the omission of expenditure equivalent to two per cent of Nigeria’s GDP from the budget process raised constitutional and legal questions requiring urgent answers.

“The Constitution is not a book of suggestions. Section 80 is unequivocal: no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly. Budgetary appropriation is not a ceremonial exercise; it is the legal authority upon which every kobo of public expenditure rests.

“If, as the IMF has revealed, expenditure amounting to two per cent of Nigeria’s GDP was omitted from the budget process, then Nigerians are entitled to one simple question: Who stole the missing two per cent of our GDP?” Atiku said.

Describing the development as more than an accounting discrepancy, the former Vice President added:

“This is no longer an accounting discrepancy. It is a constitutional, legal and moral scandal. Money does not simply disappear from a national budget. Somebody authorised it. Somebody approved it. Somebody spent it. Somebody benefited from it. Nigerians deserve to know who those people are.”

Atiku further alleged that the IMF’s findings reinforced concerns that the controversy surrounding the alleged PFIPC reflected a broader pattern of institutional corruption.

“The discovery that a fictitious agency found its way into official government processes and budgetary allocations should alarm every patriotic Nigerian. Now, the IMF tells us that expenditure equivalent to two per cent of our GDP was kept outside the budget. These are not disconnected events. Together, they point to a dangerous culture of institutional corruption,” he said.

He also criticised what he described as the government’s spending priorities, alleging that while the Federal Ministry of Health reportedly received only ₦36 million for critical health interventions despite a budgetary allocation exceeding ₦218 billion, the alleged PFIPC was allocated about ₦1.3 billion.

“Nothing better illustrates the warped priorities of this administration than a government that starves hospitals and healthcare programmes of funds while ghost agencies somehow find billions waiting for them. This is not fiscal management; it is institutionalised corruption,” he stated.

Atiku maintained that no government agency could have obtained official recognition without approval from the Presidency and called on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, to explain how the alleged council secured official recognition.

“The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, owes Nigerians a duty of candour. He must come clean. The country deserves to know who authorised the recognition of the so-called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council and under whose directive government institutions accorded it official status,” he said.

The former Vice President also linked the controversy to what he described as unresolved questions about President Tinubu’s leadership, arguing that accountability at the highest level shapes conduct across government.

He further referenced allegations by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, identified as the alleged promoter of the PFIPC, who claimed the dispute over the agency escalated after he refused to pay a 48 per cent kickback on a proposed ₦27.3 billion take-off grant.

“It is even more disturbing that the principal actor in this scandal, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, has publicly alleged that the dispute escalated after he refused a demand for a 48 per cent kickback from the Office of the Chief of Staff on the agency’s proposed ₦27.3 billion take-off grant.

“These are grave allegations that cannot be dismissed with press releases or propaganda. They demand an immediate, transparent and independent investigation,” Atiku said.

He urged the government to either disprove the allegations through an open investigation or prosecute any official found culpable.

Atiku also lamented the economic hardship facing Nigerians, saying citizens were being asked to make sacrifices while serious questions remained over the management of public resources.

“It is both ironic and cruel that citizens are being asked to make endless sacrifices while government itself cannot transparently explain where enormous public resources have gone.

“This is exactly how confidence in government collapses. Fiscal credibility cannot coexist with secret spending. Transparency cannot survive where public expenditure disappears from official records,” he added.

The ADC presidential candidate called on the National Assembly, the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Public Accounts Committees of both chambers, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the IMF’s findings.

“This is about constitutional governance. It is about whether Nigeria is still governed by law or by the discretion of a privileged few who believe public resources belong to them,” he said.

He warned that public confidence in government would continue to erode unless the alleged missing expenditure was fully accounted for.

“The books must be opened. Every naira must be traced. Every expenditure must be justified. Every official found culpable must be held accountable.

“The Tinubu administration came into office promising Renewed Hope. What Nigerians are witnessing instead is renewed secrecy, renewed impunity and renewed fiscal abuse.

“The question before the nation remains simple and unavoidable: Who stole the missing two per cent of Nigeria’s GDP? Until that question is honestly answered, every claim of transparency by this administration will ring hollow,” Atiku said.

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