Atiku Asks EFCC, ICPC to Probe IMF’s Claim of Nigeria Spending N8.8tn Off-budget
*Says amount equivalent to 2% of Nigeria’s GDP
Chuks Okocha in Abuja
The former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has raised the alarm over an alleged unrecorded N8.8trillion public expenditures, and called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to probe the allegation that the federal government omitted public spending worth two per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP) from recent budgets.Atiku claimed the amount was in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) report published on July 1, 2026.
According to the former vice president, the IMF report revealed that President Bola Tinubu-led administration failed to record public expenditures amounting to approximately two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in recent official budgets. Atiku, who said he viewed this revelation with the gravest alarm, called upon all Nigerians – the media, civil society, the National Assembly, and every democratic institution in the country – to set aside every distraction and direct their full attention to what he described as the most consequential act of fiscal impunity in Nigeria’s recent democratic history.
