Atiku attacks Tinubu budget over N12.8trn ServiceWide Vote

Former Vice President and presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has launched a sweeping critique of Nigeria's 2026 federal budget, labeling it as grossly opaque and fiscally irresponsible, with allegations ranging from duplicated allocations to trillions concealed in a controversial budgetary mechanism. The criticism, issued through his spokesperson in statements on July 18 and July 20, 2026, centers on what Abubakar describes as unprecedented concentrations of unaccountable public funds, undermining the government's calls for public sacrifice amid economic hardship.

Abubakar's primary focus is the "ServiceWide Vote" (SWV), a budgetary provision managed by the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. He highlighted that this allocation has ballooned from 638 billion naira in the 2025 budget to 12.8 trillion naira in the 2026 Appropriation Act, an increase of approximately 1,918 percent. According to his statement, 84 percent of the entire 2026 budget is concentrated in just ten Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, with the entire 12.8 trillion sum warehoused under this single heading. He called on President Bola Tinubu to provide a detailed public explanation, arguing that...