Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s claim that Nigeria omitted public spending equivalent to two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from recent budgets.
The IMF’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, had stated that public spending worth two per cent of GDP was excluded from recent budget documents and implementation reports, making the country’s fiscal deficit appear lower than its actual borrowing needs.
Reacting in a statement on Saturday, Atiku said that with Nigeria’s economy estimated at about N441.5 trillion, the two per cent discrepancy amounts to roughly N8.8 trillion spent without legislative approval, audit or public accountability.
He alleged that the Tinubu administration was operating a parallel fiscal system outside constitutional oversight.
According to him, the IMF’s findings suggest that multi-trillion naira government projects were executed off-budget, beyond the scrutiny of the Auditor-General, procurement laws and the National Assembly.
