Forgotten Dairies
The IMF Report The Missing State Funds And Endemic Corruption In The Current Regime -By Hajia Hadiza Mohammed
It is not wrong for anyone to say that what Tinubu is running is a buccaneer economy based on extortion and exploitation. No nation survives this kind of economic pillage. Tinubu government has mortgaged the future of this country through institutionalized corruption, wastefulness and uncontrolled borrowing. The government and those that formulate its policies clearly do not understand the workings of the economy.
When the All Progressives Congress (APC) party was campaigning for the 2015 general election, change and anti-corruption was their mantra. But Buhari who emerged as president thereafter gave Nigeria the worst form of change and elevated corruption to the status of statecraft. Through misguided policies like the school feeding program and social intervention funds also known as Tradermonie, billions were budget and siphoned. Under Buhari, orphaned monies were found in uncompleted buildings, airport terminal, in the belly of snakes and monkeys and many other bizarre places and yet nobody was arrested, indicted or prosecuted for all of that. Government officials and party members facing corruption charges were left off the hook. Adams Oshiomhole, the party chairman, told Nigerians that once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven you. The then British Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron in 2016 described Nigeria as a “fantastically corrupt” country because of the level of corruption prevalent in the country then.
But if the Buhari regime is fantastically corrupt, then Tinubu regime could said to be absolutely corrupt. Everything around Tinubu reeks of corruption from political appointments to economic policies and handling of public funds. Stealing and misappropriation of public funds are done with impunity and reckless abandon. Cases of wastefulness and inflation of government contracts are rife; there is no transparency and accountability. Funds are borrowed from multilateral lending agencies and stashed away while the nation is reeling under heavy debt burden.
But, by far, the most disturbing cases of corruption in this regime is the spending of unappropriated funds. The World Bank’s Nigerian Development Update (NDU) released earlier in the year shows that of the N84 trillion revenue earned by the government a whooping sum of N34.5 trillion representing about 41% of the total revenue did not pass through the federation account for appropriation to the different tiers of government but was deducted at source and spent as what is classified as “first-line-charges”. In response to the outrage that trailed this World Bank revelation, the government tried vainly to convince Nigerians that the funds were not diverted but used for statutory transfers, savings and investments, security-related expenditures, cost-of-collection charges, refunds to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) and direct transfers and interventions benefiting subnational governments. And the question is: are all these expenditure heads excluded from appropriation? Why the opacity in these spending? Why would the government spend almost one-half of state revenue on items not covered by the NASS oversight?
As if to corroborate the World Bank report, the International Monetary Funds (IMF) the penultimate week disclosed the federal government spending outside the official budgetary framework. In its 2026 Article IV Consultation report, the IMF reported that about N8.83 trillion in public spending representing about 2% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was not captured in the 2026 budget thereby distorting the country’s fiscal deficit and borrowing needs. The bank warns that greater fiscal transparency is critical to strengthening public financial management, warning that off-budget spending raises concerns over procurement practices, accountability and oversight. And again, the federal government through the Finance Minister, Taiwo Oyedele, made a feeble attempt to explain away the off-budget spending by stating that the items were contained in the Budget Office’s Quarterly Budget Implementation Report. And to me, that means it did not pass through the National Assembly appropriation screening otherwise it would not have excluded from the 2026 appropriation act. This is fraud established!
The World Bank and the IMF report on Nigeria is a warning of the dangers ahead. The Bretton Wood institutions have given us a tip about how our common wealth is being misappropriated. We do not know what is happening in government agencies and revenue collecting agencies. Our state institutions and anti-corruption agencies are grossly inactive. They are only active when it comes to harassing poor innocent citizens and perceived enemies of the government.
It is not wrong for anyone to say that what Tinubu is running is a buccaneer economy based on extortion and exploitation. No nation survives this kind of economic pillage. Tinubu government has mortgaged the future of this country through institutionalized corruption, wastefulness and uncontrolled borrowing. The government and those that formulate its policies clearly do not understand the workings of the economy. In just three years of being the saddle, Tinubu has turned everything about the economy upside down, creating misery and uncertainty. If these continue, the economy will enter into depression – forget about the fake statistics from the government propagandists. The economy is far from being stable. And, if this country is to survive, we must say no to Tinubu’s corruption and wastefulness. We can do that with our ballot papers in 2027. Nigeria, the time to take back your country is now!
Hajia Hadiza Mohammed
An actress, social activist, politician
London, UK
