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Peter Obi questions Nigeria’s fiscal direction amid overlapping national budgets
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Tinubu administration accused of weak transparency and poor budget implementation
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Public finance credibility under scrutiny as spending crosses ₦114 trillion
Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government over what he described as fiscal recklessness in the handling of Nigeria’s national budgets under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a statement shared on his official X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday, Obi questioned which budget the country is currently operating, as the Senate prepares to approve the 2026 Appropriation Bill on March 17.
He said Nigeria has, since 2023, been implementing expenditures from multiple fiscal years simultaneously, a practice he described as abnormal and damaging to effective public finance management.
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According to Obi, the Tinubu administration inherited a ₦21.83 trillion budget in 2023 but later introduced a ₦2.17 trillion supplementary budget, which he claimed prioritised the comfort of public office holders despite worsening economic conditions for ordinary Nigerians.
He said the trend continued with the approval of ₦35.06 trillion for the 2024 fiscal year and ₦54.99 trillion for 2025, bringing total appropriations under the current administration to more than ₦114 trillion in less than three years.
The former Anambra State governor expressed concern that despite the scale of government spending, budget implementation has reportedly remained below 50 per cent, creating what he described as a credibility crisis in Nigeria’s public finance system.
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Obi also criticised the decision of the Federal Government to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 budgets with extended timelines, noting that Nigerians were not provided with sufficient details on the revised budgets or their capital expenditure components.
He further accused the government of weakening transparency mechanisms, alleging that treasury reports were no longer being published on the OpenTreasury.gov.ng platform.
Obi said the failure to release any budget implementation report in 2025, regardless of performance, reflected a deliberate attempt to undermine public scrutiny and accountability.
He warned that no country could achieve sustainable development under such fiscal practices and called on the government to restore discipline, transparency and order in budget management.
According to him, reckless spending without accountability poses a serious threat to economic stability and democratic governance in Nigeria.