The National leader of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Peter Obi, has said the lack of transparency by the Federal Government in the implementation of the federal budget is not accidental.
Obi, in a statement on X on Monday, noted that President Bola Tinubu has not successfully implemented any budget since he came to office in 2023.
He stated that when he became president on May 29, 2023, Tinubu inherited a N21.83 trillion budget.
“A few months after taking office, he presented a N2.17 trillion supplementary budget that faced widespread criticism for prioritising benefits for public office holders at a time when Nigerians were enduring painful economic reforms without a credible social protection framework.
“Instead of restoring fiscal discipline, the president repeatedly expanded the 2023 budget without a clearly defined end date,” he recalled.
The former Labour Party presidential candidate stated that in less than three years, President Tinubu has exercised appropriation powers over more than N114 trillion in public spending.
“Yet, the government has failed to achieve even 50 per cent budget implementation, exposing a profound crisis of budget credibility,” he said.
According to him, President Tinubu, since assumption of office, has implemented items from the 2023, 2024, and 2025 budgets, describing it as “a unique approach to budgeting.”
He accused the president of perpetuating a trend of fiscal recklessness on the nation, adding that even “the proposed 2026 budget, despite still lacking critical details, indicates that the administration has no intention of addressing the structural weaknesses at the core of Nigeria’s public finance system.”
Obi described as troubling, the government’s opaque decision to repeal the 2024 and 2025 budgets and re-enact them with extended implementation timelines.
“Nigerians have not seen these re-enacted budgets, and there is no public information regarding the specific capital projects included or their associated costs.
“This is not reform; it represents fiscal obscurity elevated to the level of state policy, ” he said.
Obi disclose that Nigeria did not know that the country was operating about three overlapping budgets without clear legal or fiscal guidance on when each one expired or began, until mid-2025.
“No serious country manages its budgets or fiscal operations in such a manner,” he added.
The former presidential candidate stated that this lack of transparency was not accidental but reflects a deliberate pattern of undermining public scrutiny and debate.
He noted that the Federal Government has stopped publishing treasury reports on the portal, which he said, has dismantled a vital transparency framework inherited from the previous administration.
“In 2025, no budget implementation report was released, regardless of how poor the performance was,” he noted, adding, “No nation can operate with such recklessness and succeed.”
Obi said every effort should be made to quickly return Nigeria to the January-December budget cycle that was inherited and mismanaged by the current government.
“This change would enhance effective planning and tracking, promote transparency and accountability, and foster sustainable growth and development,” he added.
