Former Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar has intensified his criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, accusing it of either complicity or negligence over allegations of budget irregularities and a controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC).
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate argued that attempts by the presidency to defend the president’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, from allegations linked to the PFIPC had instead deepened public suspicion.
The latest intervention follows claims by Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who has described himself as director-general of the PFIPC, despite government assertions that the body has no legal existence. While that dispute remains unresolved, Atiku said fresh scrutiny of the 2026 Appropriation Act had revealed what he described as a wider pattern of questionable budget allocations.
According to Atiku, the budget for the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education contains more than ₦4bn in appropriations for road construction projects, despite the commission’s statutory responsibility for addressing Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis.
He cited allocations for the rehabilitation and construction of roads in parts of Ogun State, including Obasanjo-Itele Road, Nazareth Road in Oke Ola, Imeko, Idogo Township Road, Odedeyo-Mewuro Road, Eyini High School to Lusada Junction Road, Pakuj-Yporan Township Road in Ipokia and several other community roads.
“The question that naturally arises,” Atiku said, “is since when did the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education become a road construction agency?”
He argued that, with more than 20 million Nigerian children estimated to be out of school, diverting resources through an education agency represented a serious distortion of national priorities. The former vice-president alleged that projects were being embedded in agencies unrelated to their mandates in order to avoid public scrutiny.
Atiku also linked the latest claims to what he described as an established pattern of questionable appropriations under the current administration. He referred to allegations surrounding the 2023 budget, in which funds reportedly allocated to the Federal College of Education, Umunze, were redirected to projects in Surulere I federal constituency while Gbajabiamila served as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The statement further revived allegations made by Adeyemi, who has claimed that Gbajabiamila demanded substantial payments, including an alleged ₦400m upfront payment and almost half of the council’s proposed ₦27.4bn take-off allocation, in exchange for securing his appointment. Those allegations have not been proven in court, and the presidency has rejected accusations of wrongdoing.
Atiku questioned why, if Adeyemi were guilty of fraud as government officials have suggested, he had not been prosecuted despite reportedly being under investigation for several months. He also asked why Adeyemi had allegedly continued operating from offices within the Federal Secretariat and had been able to meet officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Describing the controversy as potentially more damaging than the Abdulrasheed Maina scandal, Atiku argued that, unlike the earlier case, the current administration had responded primarily with denials rather than decisive law enforcement action.
He said ultimate responsibility rested with the president because the 2026 budget bears Tinubu’s approval.
“If billions of naira can be hidden under agencies with no legal mandate to execute such projects,” Atiku said, “then either the president approved these distortions or he was completely unaware of what was happening under his watch.”
He argued that the first scenario would suggest presidential complicity, while the second would amount to what he called “an absentee presidency”.
The former vice-president also criticised the National Assembly, questioning how lawmakers approved appropriations that he believes fall outside the statutory mandates of the agencies concerned.
Calling for greater accountability, Atiku urged the government to establish what he described as a full, transparent and independent investigation into both the disputed budget allocations and the wider PFIPC controversy.
Neither the presidency nor Gbajabiamila had immediately responded publicly to the latest allegations contained in Atiku’s statement. Previous government responses have rejected accusations of misconduct and challenged the credibility of claims surrounding the PFIPC.
