The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it spent about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—estimated at over ₦8 trillion—outside the approved budget.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, dismissed the claim on Sunday, describing it as a misrepresentation of comments made by the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Nigeria and the organisation’s 2026 Article IV Consultation Report.
Oyedele said the Federal Government does not operate a “shadow budget” or spend public funds outside the constitutional and statutory framework governing public finance.
Recall that comments by the IMF’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, alleging that Nigeria failed to account for public spending equivalent to about two per cent of its GDP in recent official records, sparked strong reactions from opposition figures, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi.
