Observers of the Nigerian budgetary process often recall that past military regimes maintained stricter financial discipline, strictly adhering to a calendar year that saw unspent funds returned to the Treasury by December 31. In contrast, the current administration under President Bola Tinubu appears to be presiding over a period of significant fiscal disorder. As of August 2026, implementation of the 2024 and 2025 budgets remains sluggish, signaling what critics describe as unprecedented mismanagement.
Transparency concerns have been ignited by the inclusion of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council in the 2026 budget, which was allocated N1.3 billion despite its existence being contested. Furthermore, the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies has drawn scrutiny for a massive N18 billion staff budget, raising questions about constitutional fairness in a secular nation. The Almajiri Commission has also faced intense criticism for allocating funds to infrastructure projects like road construction and medical facilities that fall well outside its educational mandate.
A report by the civic organization Tracka reveals that the federal government has set aside over N960 billion for sport utility vehicles and empowerment schemes, a figure that dwarfs the combined allocations of seven major federal ministries. Alarmingly, Tracka noted that less than three percent of these empowerment projects have verifiable locations, suggesting that the vast majority exist only on paper. With these funds distributed across 184 agencies—many with no expertise in empowerment—the current administration is being accused of fueling systemic corruption and pushing the nation closer to insolvency through heavy borrowing.