Peter Obi Blasts Tinubu Government Over IMF’s ₦8.83tn Unreported Expenditure

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate for the National Democratic Party, has leveled accusations of deep-seated corruption against President Bola Tinubu’s administration. His claims are based on recent findings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concerning Nigeria’s public finances.

In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Obi alleged that a staggering ₦8.83 trillion in government spending, projected for 2025, was not included in the official national budget. He characterized this development as clear evidence of “grand corruption.”

Obi stated, “The recent report from the IMF consultation further raises concerns about the scale of grand corruption under the Tinubu government. The IMF now reveals that about N8.83 trillion in expenditure undertaken in 2025 is not reflected in the budget. This expenditure is not budgeted and is therefore not under legislative oversight or administrative scrutiny. This is horrible.”

The former Anambra State governor highlighted the significant magnitude of this amount, pointing out that it represents approximately 2% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He further noted that it surpasses 35% of the entire 2025 capital budget and exceeds the combined federal allocations designated for the education and health sectors.

“It is more than the entire combined budget for education (N3.52 trillion) and health (N2.38 trillion). If such an amount is properly used and accounted for, it could transform Nigeria’s public health and education sectors,” Obi asserted. He concluded that this reported spending pattern demonstrates a continuous trend of financial mismanagement under the current administration.

Obi emphasized, “This is not an isolated incident. This is a pattern of grand corruption that has become part of this administration.” Consequently, he reiterated his earlier demand for President Tinubu to step down, stating, “With the daily revelations of pervasive corruption in this administration and its total lack of commitment to the welfare and security of Nigerian citizens, the only reasonable action is for President Tinubu to resign from office.” Obi also called on Nigerians to insist on greater governmental accountability.

These comments follow an earlier disclosure by the IMF, which indicated that Nigeria had failed to report public spending equivalent to about 2% of its GDP in recent official budgets. This practice, according to the IMF, concealed the country’s actual financing requirements and made the fiscal deficit appear smaller than it truly was.

Speaking in Lagos, Christian Ebeke, the IMF Resident Representative in Nigeria, confirmed, “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.”

The IMF clarified that the unrecorded expenditure was linked to major government infrastructure projects executed outside the formal budgetary framework. The Fund warned that such practices complicate fiscal and monetary policy coordination, undermine oversight and transparency, and obscure the true extent of Nigeria’s fiscal deficit. However, the IMF also acknowledged that the Federal Government has initiated corrective measures, including revising budget laws to formally capture these expenditures, while also advocating for timely implementation reports and enhanced fiscal transparency.