Atiku Challenges Tinubu To Explain ₦12.8trn Service-Wide Vote In 2026 Budget

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Tinubu administration of concealing ₦12.8 trillion in the 2026 Federal Budget, describing the allocation under the Service-Wide Vote (SWV) as a major threat to transparency and fiscal accountability.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 election, made the allegation in a statement issued on Monday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

He claimed that 84 per cent of the 2026 budget is concentrated in 10 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with ₦12.8 trillion reportedly warehoused under the Service-Wide Vote in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

According to him, the allocation represents a sharp increase from the ₦638 billion provided for the Service-Wide Vote in the 2025 budget.

He said, “President Tinubu owes Nigerians a detailed explanation. No responsible government can expect citizens to accept a nineteen-fold increase in a notoriously opaque budgetary provision without disclosing exactly who will spend the money, what it will be spent on, and under what legal authority.

“Should the Tinubu administration fail to come clean on this unprecedented ₦12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote, Nigerians would be justified in suspecting that these enormous sums are being stashed away to bankroll the APC’s political machinery and President Tinubu’s re-election bid in 2027. A government with nothing to hide does not conceal trillions behind opaque budgetary headings.”

The former vice president also questioned what he described as disparities in personnel allocations between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

According to him, while the Ministry of Finance received ₦54.8 billion for personnel costs, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has a ₦2.19 trillion personnel provision under the Service-Wide Vote.

“Who exactly are the workers earning ₦2.19 trillion? Where are they? What offices do they occupy? What agencies do they belong to? This is not budgeting; it is budgetary absurdity. Nigerians deserve to see the payroll,” he said.

Atiku further argued that the amount allocated to the Service-Wide Vote exceeds the combined allocations to critical sectors such as education, defence and agriculture, warning that such concentration of funds under broad budgetary headings raises concerns about accountability.

“The 2026 Appropriation Act is fast becoming a document that reeks of fiscal manipulation. At a time when Nigerians are being asked to endure hardship, government cannot simultaneously hide trillions behind budgetary euphemisms and expect public trust. Every unexplained trillion is a trillion diverted from classrooms, hospitals, security, food production and economic growth,” he stated.

The former vice president called on the National Assembly to conduct a comprehensive investigation into all allocations under the Service-Wide Vote, particularly the ₦2.19 trillion personnel provision.

He urged lawmakers to demand full disclosure of the beneficiaries, legal basis and spending framework for the allocations.

“A government that cannot explain where trillions of naira are going has forfeited the moral authority to demand sacrifice from its citizens. It is time to open the books, expose the truth and restore integrity to Nigeria’s budgeting process. The Nigerian people deserve nothing less,” Atiku added.

The Federal Government had yet to respond to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.