…Demands probe
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Tinubu-led APC government of operating a “shadow economy” after an IMF report allegedly revealed ₦8.8 trillion in federal spending missing from official budgets.
Citing the Fund’s July 1, 2026 Article IV consultation, Atiku said the money — about 2% of Nigeria’s ₦441.5 trillion GDP — was spent “unaccounted for, unaudited, and hidden from Nigerians” on off-budget projects outside the Auditor-General and National Assembly’s oversight. He called it “the most consequential act of fiscal impunity” in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Linking it to Tinubu’s Lagos years, Atiku alleged the same “Alpha Beta playbook” is now running at federal scale: multi-trillion Naira contracts awarded “by Executive whim” while Nigerians endure subsidy removal, Naira devaluation, and 35% interest rates.
He claimed the ₦8.8 trillion, plus ₦800 billion “illegally deducted” from states, points to a “multi-source political war chest” ahead of 2027, saying “the government maintained access to a ₦8.8 trillion shadow treasury” while telling citizens “the treasury is empty”.
Atiku demanded emergency NASS hearings, a full audit of off-budget spending, public disclosure of every project and contractor, return of ₦800bn to states, and EFCC/ICPC probes. “A government that spends in secret does not govern, it plunders”, he declared, urging Nigerians not to accept “fiscal concealment” as the new normal.
