Atiku Alleges N12.8 Trillion Hidden Provision in Nigeria's 2026 Budget Under Service-Wide Vote

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, now the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, has alleged that Nigeria's 2026 federal budget contains a N12.8 trillion provision buried under the Service-Wide Vote in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, a line item he describes as a deliberate framework for unaccountable spending.

The allegation was made in a statement released on Monday by Atiku's spokesperson Phrank Shaibu.

The core of the Nigeria 2026 budget Service-Wide Vote N12.8 trillion Atiku allegation is a comparison between two budget years.

In the 2025 budget, the Service-Wide Vote allocation stood at N638 billion. In the 2026 Appropriations Act, Atiku claims that the figure jumped to N12.8 trillion. That is a 1,918 percent increase in one year, or roughly nineteen times the previous year's allocation.

The Service-Wide Vote is a budget category that covers expenditures not assigned to specific agencies, typically items like statutory transfers, contingency funds, and cross-government obligations. It is not inherently improper. But its opacity, money allocated without naming a specific spending ministry or agency in advance, makes it a category that requires particularly close scrutiny. A N638 billion SWV is unusual. A N12.8 trillion SWV is extraordinary.

Atiku also alleged that just ten Ministries, Departments, and Agencies account for 84 percent of the entire 2026 federal budget, a concentration that he says reflects a pattern of opaque and unaccountable fiscal management under the Tinubu administration. Atiku did not leave the implications implicit.

"President Tinubu owes Nigerians a detailed explanation. No responsible government can expect citizens to accept a nineteen-fold increase in a notoriously opaque budgetary provision without disclosing exactly who will spend the money, what it will be spent on, and under what legal authority," he said.

He also went further, linking the allegation to the approaching 2027 election cycle.

"Should the Tinubu administration fail to come clean on this unprecedented N12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote, Nigerians would be justified in suspecting that these enormous sums are being stashed away to bankroll the APC's political machinery and President Tinubu's re-election bid in 2027. A government with nothing to hide does not conceal trillions behind opaque budgetary headings," he added.

To be clear about what this article can and cannot establish: Atiku's figures have been reported as stated by his spokesperson. The claim that the Service-Wide Vote increased from N638 billion to N12.8 trillion between 2025 and 2026 is a specific, verifiable assertion that can be checked against the published appropriation acts. The Tinubu administration has not, in the material available for this report, responded to this specific allegation.

Whether the increase reflects legitimate budget restructuring, a change in how cross-government obligations are classified, or something more concerning is a question that independent budget analysts, the National Assembly's appropriations committees, and ultimately the executive itself need to answer publicly.

The allegation is made by a political opponent with an electoral interest in the story. That does not make it false. It means it requires verification and response before it can be treated as established.