Former vice‑president and ADC presidential hopeful Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday accused President Bola Tinubu of either being complicit in or unaware of alleged mess in the 2026 budget. He was reacting to claims that billions meant for the National Commission for Almajiri and Out‑of‑School Children Education were pencilled in for road works.
Atiku said the revelations, plus the row over the so‑called Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), point to a pattern of budget tinkering and public‑fund abuse. In a statement by his SSA on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, he added that the presidency’s attempts to distance Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila from the PFIPC flap had only deepened suspicion.
He flagged a document showing the Almajiri commission was allocated billions for projects outside its mandate. “The question that naturally arises is this: Since when did the National Commission for Almajiri and Out‑of‑School Children Education become a road construction agency?” he asked.
Atiku said sending education money to roads while millions of children stay out of school is “not merely a distortion of priorities but a cruel betrayal of the very children the Commission was created to serve.” He alleged the move showed “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,” he said.
He linked the budget issue to Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi’s claims that senior officials demanded billions over the PFIPC, and blasted the presidency’s denials as inadequate. “If Prince Adeyemi is indeed the fraudster that government spokespersons now portray him to be, why has he not been arraigned before a competent court of law since he was first invited for questioning late last year?” he asked, also questioning Adeyemi’s alleged access to the Federal Secretariat and EFCC.
Atiku warned Tinubu could not wash his hands: “The budget is his budget. The Appropriation Act bears his signature. The agencies involved operate under his administration,” and added: “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 would amount to complicity. The second would amount to an admission of an absentee presidency where consequential decisions are being taken without the knowledge or supervision of the President.”
He urged the National Assembly to explain how the odd appropriations passed and demanded “a full, transparent and independent investigation” into both the budget and the PFIPC matter.
The PFIPC row has drawn wider attention. The presidency has rejected Adeyemi’s claims, called the council fictitious and said Adeyemi forged appointment letters bearing falsified signatures to run the illegal body.
