The Nigerian government has pushed back against claims that it spent more than ₦8 trillion outside the bounds of the national budget, arguing that the figure stems from a misinterpretation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) data. In a statement released Sunday, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele rejected what he described as a false narrative of secret or illegal spending.
The controversy began after the IMF’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, noted in Lagos that government expenditure equivalent to roughly two percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had not been fully captured in official fiscal reports. Ebeke said that including these unreported outlays would close a statistical discrepancy and make Nigeria’s deficit appear more accurate relative to its actual financing needs. “So far we think that there are about two per cent of GDP of expenditure that were not reported that should be reported and should be recorded, so that this statistical discrepancy will disappear,” Ebeke stated.
Opposition figures, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi, seized on the remarks, calling for an investigation into what they characterized as unreported expenditure.
Government’s Legal Defense
Oyedele, who also serves as Coordinating Minister of the Economy, dismissed the notion that the government operated a “shadow budget.” In a formal response, he said the claims were “incorrect and risk misleading the public regarding the government’s financial management.” He pointed to Sections 80 through 83 and Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulate that public funds can only be withdrawn and spent in accordance with laws passed by the National Assembly.
According to Oyedele, all federal expenditure is executed through Appropriation Acts, Supplementary Appropriation Acts, and other statutory approvals. Multi-year projects and approved capital rollovers, he added, are recognized components of Nigeria’s public financial management system. “It is inaccurate to suggest that trillions of naira have been secretly spent outside legislative approval,” the minister said. “Such allegations should have identified the specific projects purportedly executed without appropriation or legal authority and present credible evidence in support of the claim.”
He further clarified that statutory transfers, debt servicing obligations, first-line charges, security interventions, development commission allocations, and disaster response programs—all authorized by Acts of the National Assembly—are lawful parts of the fiscal framework. “These expenditures are neither secret nor illegal,” Oyedele stated. “They are established by law, disclosed in various fiscal reports, and subject to applicable oversight, audit and accountability mechanisms.”
IMF Observations vs. Allegations of Illegality
The minister sought to reframe the IMF’s comments as a technical recommendation rather than an indictment. He argued that the Fund’s observations were aimed at improving the completeness and presentation of Nigeria’s fiscal reporting, not at questioning the legality of government spending. “A fiscal deficit is determined by the relationship between total government revenues and total government expenditures,” Oyedele explained. “Whether a capital project is financed through annual appropriations, supplementary appropriations, statutory transfers, approved intervention mechanisms, or other lawful financing arrangements does not, by itself, increase the fiscal deficit.”
Oyedele also noted that President Bola Tinubu had already proposed a single, harmonized budget framework during the presentation of the 2026 Appropriation Bill. The goal, he said, is to eliminate multiple and overlapping budgets and strengthen fiscal transparency.
What This Means for Fiscal Transparency
The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between Nigeria’s complex budgeting system and international standards for fiscal reporting. While the government insists that all spending is legally authorized, the IMF’s observation suggests that the way this spending is recorded—not the spending itself—may obscure the true size of the deficit. The minister reiterated that the administration remains committed to prudent fiscal management, accountability, and transparency, and that the IMF report should be read as a recommendation to align public finance reporting with international norms, not as evidence of unlawful activity.
Source: FG rebuts ₦8tn ‘hidden spending’ claim, says IMF report distorted