Nigeria: Budgeting or barefaced robbery?

Nigeria's budget allocation of N1 trillion for empowerment programs and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) is drawing sharp criticism, particularly in light of increasing national borrowing pressures. Veterans of budget monitoring note that military regimes exhibited greater fiscal discipline, with unspent funds returned to the Treasury at year-end, unlike the current administration's apparent practice of carrying over budgets.

The author contends that the Tinubu administration's "sloppiness" in budget management is fostering unprecedented corruption. This is seen as a "double tragedy" given the president's background as an accountant and financial expert. The article contrasts this with the performance of the previous Buhari administration, which, despite inheriting an economy "on the brink of bankruptcy," is argued to have managed budgets more effectively.

Several specific budget allocations are singled out for scrutiny. The Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) reportedly received N1.3 billion in the 2026 budget, yet its legitimacy and the allocation remain unexplained. The National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) plans to spend N18.049 billion on its staff, raising questions about staff numbers and the constitutionality of a board dedicated to a single religion in a secular state. Furthermore, the Almajiri Commission has earmarked N8.4 billion for road projects, a move described by one publication as a "budgeting absurdity" and by the author as a "well-orchestrated and long standing embezzlement of national funds designed to favour Northern Muslims exclusively."