Taiwo POPOOPLA
Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has criticised the Federal Government over what he described as “fiscal recklessness” in the management of Nigeria’s national budgets.
In a statement posted on his official X account on Monday, Obi questioned which budget Nigeria is currently operating, ahead of the expected approval of the 2026 national budget by the Senate on March 17.
He noted that since 2023, Nigeria has been implementing budget items from multiple fiscal years simultaneously, describing the practice as abnormal and harmful to public finance management.
According to Obi, President Bola Tinubu inherited a N21.83 trillion budget in 2023 but later introduced a N2.17 trillion supplementary budget, which he said prioritised benefits for public office holders despite widespread economic hardship.
He further stated that the pattern continued with the approval of N35.06 trillion for 2024 and N54.99 trillion for 2025, bringing total appropriations under the current administration to over N114 trillion in less than three years.
Obi expressed concern that despite the massive spending, budget implementation has remained below 50 per cent, leading to what he described as a crisis of credibility in public finance.
He also criticised the government’s decision to repeal and re-enact the 2024 and 2025 budgets with extended timelines, saying Nigerians were not provided with details of the revised budgets or their capital projects.
The former Anambra State governor accused the Federal Government of lacking transparency, alleging that treasury reports were no longer being published on the OpenTreasury.gov.ng platform and that no budget implementation report was released in 2025.
Obi warned that no country could succeed under such fiscal practices and called on the government to restore discipline in budget management.
“This lack of transparency is not accidental; it reflects a deliberate pattern of undermining public scrutiny and debate.
“The Federal Government has stopped publishing treasury reports on the OpenTreasury.gov.ng portal, dismantling a vital transparency framework inherited from the previous administration.
“In 2025, no budget implementation report was released, regardless of how poor the performance was! No nation can operate with such recklessness and succeed,” Obi said.
