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 what he described as widespread budgetary irregularities and the controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
Atiku made the allegations in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
According to him, attempts by the Presidency to rescue the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, from the mounting allegations linked to the PFIPC had only exposed the Tinubu-led administration to even greater public ridicule and suspicion.
The former vice president alleged that fresh findings from the 2026 Appropriation Act revealed a pattern of budget manipulation through the insertion of projects into agencies that lack the legal mandate to execute them.
According to him, the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, an agency established to address Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis, was allocated billions of naira for road construction projects unrelated to its statutory responsibilities.
Atiku cited provisions in the budget showing that about N1.4 billion was earmarked for the rehabilitation and construction of roads, including Obasanjo-Itele Road, Nazareth Road Oke Ola, Imeko, Idogo Township Road and Odedeyo-Mewuro Road.
He added that another N1.4 billion was allocated for projects including the Eyini High School-Lusada Junction Road, Ibooro, Idiya Central Community Road, Roundabout Abeokuta, Ile Ise Community Asuje Road and Soyote Community Road in Abeokuta.
The statement further claimed that N1.05 billion was budgeted for Pakuj-Yporan Township Road in Ipokia Ward 2, while another N1.05 billion was provided for RCC Opposite Honda Agbebi Community Road and Ajuwon Baale Road.
Questioning the rationale behind the allocations, Atiku asked when the commission responsible for Almajiri and out-of-school children education had become a road construction agency.
“At a time when over 20 million Nigerian children remain outside the classroom, when schools are collapsing under the weight of neglect and when the Almajiri crisis continues to threaten the future of an entire generation, the decision to convert an education commission into a contractor for road projects represents not merely a distortion of priorities but a cruel betrayal of the very children the Commission was created to serve.
“The unavoidable conclusion is that the administration’s henchmen have once again resorted to the now familiar tactic of hiding questionable projects in backwater agencies where public scrutiny is minimal and where funds can be more easily diverted.
“This is the height of irresponsibility. It is the height of impunity. Indeed, it is the height of evil,” the statement further noted.
Continuing, Atiku further alleged: “Unfortunately, this is not the first time such dubious practices have emerged under the APC administration.
“Nigerians will recall that in the 2023 budget, funds meant for the Federal College of Education, Umunze, Anambra State, were allegedly deployed to execute constituency projects in Surulere I Federal Constituency of Lagos State on behalf of Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, who was then Speaker of the House of Representatives, while the institution itself was denied much-needed capital funding.
“The latest revelations, therefore, cannot be dismissed as an isolated incident or a mere administrative error.
“They fit into an already discernible pattern of budget padding, insertions and diversions that have become a defining feature of governance under this administration.”
The former vice president also revisited allegations made by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who reportedly claimed that Gbajabiamila demanded billions of naira, including an alleged upfront payment of N400 million and about N12.5 billion from the proposed N27.4 billion take-off grant for the PFIPC, as a condition for securing his appointment as Director-General.
Atiku said the Presidency could not dismiss such allegations through official statements alone, insisting that several questions remained unanswered.
“If Prince Adeyemi is indeed the fraudster government spokespersons now portray him to be, why has he not been arraigned before a competent court since he was first invited for questioning?
“Why is the organisation reportedly still operating from the Federal Secretariat? How was he able to pay a courtesy visit to the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission while supposedly under investigation?” he asked.
He argued that the controversy was assuming dimensions more troubling than the case involving the former pension reform chairman, noting that law enforcement agencies had acted swiftly in the Maina case through investigations, arrests and prosecution.
According to Mr Atiku, President Tinubu cannot claim ignorance because the budget bears his signature and the agencies involved operate under his administration.
“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 amounts to complicity. The second amounts to an absentee presidency,” he said.
The former vice president also challenged the National Assembly to explain how the disputed allocations passed legislative scrutiny, arguing that Parliament was created to safeguard public funds rather than approve questionable appropriations without interrogation.
He called for a full, transparent and independent investigation into both the alleged budget irregularities and the PFIPC controversy, insisting that Nigerians deserve clear answers from the government.