Nigeria’s opposition figure Peter Obi has renewed his call for President Bola Tinubu to resign, citing the International Monetary Fund’s disclosure that public spending equivalent to about 2 percent of gross domestic product was not captured in the country’s budget, which he said raises concerns over fiscal transparency.
The renewed criticism follows remarks by the IMF’s resident representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, who said last week that around 2 percent of GDP equivalent to about N8.8 trillion in government expenditure was undertaken outside the budget framework, making Nigeria’s fiscal deficit appear smaller than its actual financing needs.
In a statement issued on Sunday via X, Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), described the disclosure as evidence of what he called a pattern of “grand corruption” under the Tinubu administration.
“The IMF now reveals that about N8.83 trillion in expenditure undertaken in 2025 is not reflected in the budget. This expenditure is not budgeted and is therefore not under legislative oversight or administrative scrutiny. This is horrible,” Obi said.
He argued that the amount exceeds 35 percent of Nigeria’s N23.96 trillion capital expenditure budget for 2025 and is larger than the combined allocations for education and health.
“It is more than the entire combined budget for education (N3.52 trillion) and health (N2.38 trillion),” he said.
Obi said proper deployment of the funds could have significantly improved public services and job creation.
“If such an amount is properly used and accounted for, it could transform Nigeria’s public health and education sectors. It could create hundreds of cottage industries that can provide jobs for thousands of graduates and build a solid foundation for economic development. But we cannot account for it. This is not an isolated incident. This is a pattern of grand corruption that has become part of this administration.”
He added that corruption had become entrenched in government and posed risks to the country’s stability.
“We have a lot to worry about regarding the state of corruption under President Tinubu. The sort of corruption that is ingrained in total disregard of elementary rules of public finance management poses a grave danger to national security and the stability of the Nigerian state.”
Obi further accused the ruling All Progressives Congress-led government of failing to prioritise the country’s growing social and infrastructure needs.
“With the growing poverty and the urgent need for significant upgrades to social and physical infrastructure, a responsible and responsive government would ensure that N8.83 trillion is prudently utilised to address these gaps. But not the Tinubu administration,” he said.
The former Anambra State governor also renewed his demand that Tinubu step down, saying recent developments reinforced concerns he had earlier raised over the administration’s performance.
“A few days ago, I called on President Tinubu to resign from office for incompetence, lack of capacity, lack of compassion, and failure to improve on his campaign promises,” Obi said. “But with the daily revelations of pervasive corruption in this administration and its total lack of commitment to the welfare and security of Nigerian citizens, the only reasonable action is for President Tinubu to resign from office.”
He added that “the collapse of elementary forms of due process under Tinubu and the increased evidence of rampant looting of Nigerian public finances reinforce the need for greater accountability.”
Obi’s latest remarks come a day after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the IMF’s disclosure.
The Tinubu administration has yet to respond to Obi’s latest comments.
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