The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it spent more than ₦8 trillion outside the approved budget, describing the allegations as false and based on a misrepresentation of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2026 Article IV Consultation Report.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, the government said it does not operate a “shadow budget” or spend public funds outside the constitutional and legal framework governing public finance.
The statement was in response to recent public commentary alleging that about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated at over ₦8 trillion, had been expended outside legislative approval.
According to the ministry, all federal expenditures are made in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the Appropriation Acts, Supplementary Appropriation Acts and other laws passed by the National Assembly.
It explained that multi-year capital projects, statutory transfers, debt service obligations, first-line charges and other intervention mechanisms are all backed by existing laws and should not be interpreted as illegal or secret expenditures.
The government maintained that no credible evidence had been presented to support allegations of unauthorised spending, stressing that claims of such magnitude should identify specific projects executed without appropriation or legal authority.
The ministry also clarified that differences between budget presentation and fiscal reporting do not amount to unlawful expenditure, noting that Nigeria’s reporting framework incorporates statutory transfers and other legally authorised expenditures that may be presented differently under international reporting standards.
It further rejected suggestions that the reported amount represented an increase in the country’s fiscal deficit, explaining that the deficit is determined by the relationship between total government revenue and expenditure, not by the financing mechanism for approved projects.
According to the statement, the IMF’s observations were primarily about improving the comprehensiveness, timing and presentation of fiscal reporting rather than questioning the legality of government spending.
The ministry recalled that President Bola Tinubu had, while presenting the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly on December 19, 2025, called for the harmonisation of multiple and overlapping budgets into a single, cohesive framework.
Reaffirming its commitment to prudent fiscal management, transparency and accountability, the Federal Government said ongoing reforms had strengthened budget credibility, treasury management, revenue administration and the digitalisation of public financial processes.
It added that these reforms had received positive recognition from the IMF, other multilateral institutions, international credit rating agencies, investors and global media organisations.
The government urged the public to base debates on accurate facts and a proper understanding of Nigeria’s constitutional and fiscal framework, warning that misrepresenting technical fiscal observations as evidence of unlawful spending undermines informed public discourse and democratic accountability.
