According to him, many Nigerians who had discussed the issue with him were shocked by the scale of the alleged off-budget spending, but he argued that such developments should not come as a surprise.
A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Professor Patrick Utomi, has criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu over the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s disclosure that Nigeria spent an estimated ₦8.83 trillion outside the formal budget framework, describing the revelation as evidence of "fiscal rascality" and accusing the country's political elite of enabling bad governance.
Utomi, a professor of political economy and management expert, made the remarks in a series of posts on social media while reacting to the controversy generated by the IMF's recent fiscal assessment of Nigeria.
According to him, many Nigerians who had discussed the issue with him were shocked by the scale of the alleged off-budget spending, but he argued that such developments should not come as a surprise.
"Many I spoke to in the last three days are stunned by the impunity of fiscal rascality of those running Nigeria revealed by the IMF," Utomi said.
