Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Tinubu of either being complicit in or unaware of alleged irregularities in the implementation of the 2026 budget, following claims that billions of naira allocated to the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education were earmarked for road construction projects.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the latest revelations, alongside the controversy surrounding the alleged Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), pointed to what he described as a disturbing pattern of budget manipulation and misuse of public funds under the current administration.
The former vice president was reacting to a recent investigative report by Daily Trust, which alleged that the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education received budgetary allocations for road construction projects unrelated to its statutory responsibilities.
Questioning the rationale behind the allocations, Atiku said the commission was established to improve access to education for Almajiri and out-of-school children, not to execute infrastructure projects.
“The question that naturally arises is this: Since when did the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education become a road construction agency?” he asked.
He argued that diverting resources intended for educational development to unrelated projects amounted to a serious misplacement of national priorities, especially at a time when millions of Nigerian children remain out of school.
According to Atiku, allocating education funds to road construction represents “not merely a distortion of priorities but a cruel betrayal of the very children the Commission was created to serve.”
The ADC presidential candidate further alleged that the development reflected what he described as a recurring practice of concealing questionable projects within government agencies that are less likely to attract public scrutiny.
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“This is the height of irresponsibility. It is the height of impunity. Indeed, it is the height of evil,” he said.
Atiku also linked the alleged budget irregularities to the ongoing controversy surrounding the purported Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), whose self-acclaimed Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, has levelled allegations against senior government officials.
He criticised the Presidency’s response to the controversy, arguing that attempts to distance the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, from the matter had only fuelled public suspicion.
According to Atiku, if Adeyemi is truly guilty of fraud as alleged by government officials, legal action should have been taken against him.
“If Prince Adeyemi is indeed the fraudster that government spokespersons now portray him to be, why has he not been arraigned before a competent court of law since he was first invited for questioning late last year?” he queried.
The former vice president also questioned reports suggesting that Adeyemi continued to operate from the Federal Secretariat and was allegedly able to visit the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) despite being under investigation.
Atiku insisted that President Tinubu could not distance himself from the issues raised, arguing that ultimate responsibility for the budget rests with the President.
“The budget is his budget. The Appropriation Act bears his signature. The agencies involved operate under his administration,” he stated.
“If billions of naira can be hidden under agencies with no legal mandate to execute such projects, then either the President approved these distortions or he was completely unaware of what was happening under his watch.”
“The first possibility would amount to complicity. The second would amount to an admission of an absentee presidency where consequential decisions are being taken without the knowledge or supervision of the President,” he added.
Atiku also called on the National Assembly to explain how the alleged irregular appropriations passed through the legislative process without being identified.
“The National Assembly must also explain how these bizarre appropriations escaped legislative scrutiny. Parliament was established as the watchdog of the public purse and not as an assembly whose principal function is to chant ‘On your mandate,’ while obvious irregularities sail through the appropriation process without interrogation,” he said.
He urged the Federal Government to establish a full, transparent and independent investigation into both the alleged budget irregularities and the PFIPC controversy.
The allegations come amid renewed public debate over transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s budgeting process. Civil society organisations and fiscal policy advocates have repeatedly raised concerns over the inclusion of projects in the budgets of ministries, departments and agencies whose statutory mandates do not align with the projects they are expected to execute.
Meanwhile, the Presidency has rejected allegations surrounding the PFIPC, insisting that the organisation has no legal status under the Federal Government.
In a statement issued by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency described the PFIPC as a fictitious organisation and alleged that its self-acclaimed Director-General, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, forged appointment letters purportedly signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, to operate the agency illegally.
