Atiku queries Tinubu over N12.8trn Service-Wide Vote

…Asks N/Assembly to probe figures, spending framework

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has challenged President Bola Tinubu to explain the N12.8 trillion allocated under the Service-Wide Vote (SWV) in the 2026 budget, describing the provision as an unprecedented threat to transparency and fiscal responsibility.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 poll, said the massive allocation raised serious questions about the management of public funds and demanded a line-by-line investigation by the National Assembly.

In a statement by Phrank Shaibu, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Atiku said the concentration of 84% of the 2026 budget in just 10 ministries, departments and agencies, including the N12.8 trillion parked under the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, suggested an “architecture for opaque and unaccountable spending.”

He noted that the SWV allocation rose from N638 billion in the 2025 budget to N12.8 trillion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, representing an increase of about 1,918 % in one year.

“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,” Atiku said.

He warned that failure by the Tinubu administration to explain the allocation could fuel suspicions that the funds were being reserved to finance the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the President’s 2027 re-election campaign.

“A government with nothing to hide does not conceal trillions behind opaque budgetary headings,” he said.

Atiku also questioned the N2.19 trillion personnel provision under the Service-Wide Vote, contrasting it with the N54.8 billion personnel allocation of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“Who exactly are the workers earning N2.19 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 said the allocations to education, defence and agriculture combined were lower than the funds hidden under the SWV, arguing that such concentration of unmarked funds demanded urgent public scrutiny.

He described the 2026 Appropriation Act as a document that “reeks of fiscal manipulation,” saying Nigerians could not be asked to endure economic hardship while trillions of naira were concealed under vague budget headings.

He therefore urged the National Assembly to immediately commence a comprehensive investigation into all SWV allocations, particularly the N2.19 trillion personnel provision.

Atiku said Parliament must demand full disclosure of the beneficiaries, legal basis and spending framework for every naira appropriated under the heading.

“A government that cannot explain where trillions of naira are going has forfeited the moral authority to demand sacrifice from its citizens,” Atiku added.