FG Denies N8. 83tn Off-Budget Spending, Says IMF Report Misrepresented - InsideBusiness - Business News in Nigeria
The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it spent about N8. 83 trillion outside the approved budget. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy,. . .
The Federal Government has dismissed claims that it spent about N8. 83 trillion outside the approved budget. In a statement issued on Sunday, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele insisted that recent public interpretations of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2026 Article IV Consultation Report misrepresented the Fund’s observations and created a false impression of unlawful public spending. He said a “shadow budget” or expended public funds outside constitutional and statutory provisions were “incorrect” and risked misleading Nigerians about the country’s public finance management. “The Federal Government does not operate a ‘shadow budget’ or expend public funds outside the constitutional and statutory framework established for public finance,” Oyedele said. His response followed widespread public debate over comments by the IMF’s Resident Representative in Nigeria, Christian Ebeke, who disclosed during an industry event in Lagos that government expenditure equivalent to about two per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), estimated at approximately N8. 83 trillion, was not reflected in official budget documents. The IMF said the discrepancy largely stemmed from capital projects executed outside the annual budget framework, warning that incomplete fiscal reporting could understate Nigeria’s actual fiscal deficit and weaken transparency, although it acknowledged ongoing government reforms aimed at improving fiscal reporting. The IMF disclosure prompted strong reactions from Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, both of whom called for greater accountability and investigations into the reported expenditure. Responding to the controversy, Oyedele maintained that every Federal Government expenditure is authorised under the 1999 Constitution and relevant laws enacted by the National Assembly. He explained that government spending is undertaken through Appropriation Acts, Supplementary Appropriation Acts and other statutory provisions, while multi-year capital projects are implemented under approved rollover arrangements recognised by law. “It is inaccurate to suggest that trillions of naira have been secretly spent outside legislative approval,” the minister said. “Such allegations should have identified the specific projects purportedly executed without appropriation or legal authority and present credible evidence in support of the claim. ”The minister said it was important to distinguish between appropriation, expenditure authorisation, financing and fiscal reporting, noting that Nigeria’s public finance framework contains several legally established statutory transfers and intervention mechanisms that may not always appear in the annual Appropriation Act in the same format required under international fiscal reporting standards. According to him, these include statutory allocations to development commissions, debt service obligations, cost of collection retained by revenue agencies, special intervention programmes, Federal Capital Territory budgets and other expenditures expressly authorised by law. “These expenditures are neither secret nor illegal. They are established by law, disclosed in various fiscal reports, and subject to applicable oversight, audit and accountability mechanisms,” he said. Oyedele stressed that differences in fiscal classification and reporting should not be interpreted as evidence of unlawful expenditure. He also rejected suggestions that the reported amount automatically translates into a higher fiscal deficit. “A fiscal deficit is determined by the relationship between total government revenues and total government expenditures,” he said, explaining that expenditures financed through statutory transfers, supplementary appropriations or other lawful financing arrangements do not, by themselves, increase the deficit. The minister argued that the IMF’s observations were primarily technical and related to “the comprehensiveness, timing and presentation of fiscal reporting rather than the legality of expenditure. ”He noted that the Tinubu administration had already initiated reforms to harmonise Nigeria’s budget framework, recalling that President Bola Tinubu, while presenting the 2026 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly in December 2025, requested an end to the practice of running multiple and overlapping budgets in favour of a unified fiscal framework. Oyedele further said recent reforms in budget credibility, treasury management, revenue administration and digitalisation of government financial processes had strengthened public financial management and received recognition from the IMF, other multilateral institutions, international credit rating agencies and investors. “The Federal Government remains firmly committed to prudent fiscal management, transparency and accountability,” he said. While acknowledging that public debate is essential in a democracy, the minister urged commentators to accurately interpret technical fiscal reports. “Mischaracterising technical observations as evidence of unlawful expenditure neither advances informed public discourse nor strengthens democratic accountability,” he added. The government’s clarification comes amid sustained political criticism over the IMF findings, with opposition figures demanding greater transparency over public spending and urging the National Assembly and anti-corruption agencies to investigate the issues raised in the Fund’s latest fiscal assessment. Post Views:92