ADC Accuses Tinubu Government Of Budget Confusion, Poor Project Implementation

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has criticised the Federal Government led by President Bola Tinubu over what it described as confusion in the nation’s budgeting process, weak project implementation, and repeated policy reversals.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the party’s national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said the administration’s focus on re-election politics rather than effective governance has inflicted significant damage on the country.

According to Abdullahi, Nigeria’s budget system has been distorted since 2024, resulting in the 2025 and 2026 budgets running simultaneously. The ADC said the situation is already affecting the efficiency of ministries, departments, and agencies.

“Even as we speak, 30 per cent of the 2025 budget is billed to run from February 2026 to November 30, 2026, while the remaining 70 per cent is simply rolled over to the 2026 budget, which is still being debated at the National Assembly three months into the year.

“This situation becomes even more alarming when we recall that President Tinubu promised last year that all capital components of the 2024 and 2025 budgets would be concluded by March 31, 2026, less than a month away, knowing quite well that this is not possible.

“As of today, capital budget implementation for the Ministry of Power stands at a mere 3.6 per cent, that of Communications Technology at 8.9 per cent, while Education and Health stand at 23.5 per cent and 32.5 per cent respectively.”

The opposition party argued that no responsible government would allow key sectors critical to human capital development to remain largely underfunded while public officials continue to live lavishly amid widespread hardship.

“It is noteworthy that the only ministry that has outperformed its budget, up to 113.45 per cent, is the Ministry of Defence, largely due to emergency funding through the inscrutable Service-Wide Vote.

“Yet, rather than abate, insecurity has continued to spread across the country. Recent reports indicate that in this month of Ramadan alone, up to 500 Nigerians may have been killed by terrorists in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Kebbi.”

The ADC further criticised the government for celebrating increased revenue and foreign reserve levels while public spending appears ineffective.

“The government has continued to boast of historic revenue collection and unprecedented foreign reserve balances. This government has borrowed more aggressively than any other government in the country’s history.

“Yet, budgets remain unimplemented, and contractors remain unpaid. This is the reason Nigerians are suffering like never before and asking the most important questions: What is this government doing with all the money that accrues from all the loans, all the revenues, and all the increased taxes? Why are we worse off today than we were three years ago?”

The party also pointed to what it described as frequent reversals in government appointments and policy decisions.

“Since this government came on board, analysts have identified at least seven appointments and several policy decisions that the government has announced and reversed either almost immediately or after public uproar. This is what happens when a government is distracted.

“The Tinubu government has proven that, to them, everything is about politics and power for its own sake. This is why Nigerians are being slaughtered at an industrial scale across the country while the government feasts. This is why, despite all the propaganda of having performed wonders, Nigeria still holds the ignoble position of having the highest number of people in the world living in extreme poverty, with at least six out of every ten Nigerians unable to feed themselves.”