Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has criticised the federal government’s budgeting approach, warning that Nigeria is sliding into fiscal opacity.
He said overlapping budgets have weakened transparency and undermined fiscal discipline.
Overlapping Budget
In a post on X on Monday, Obi questioned which budget Nigeria is currently implementing.
His comment followed reports that the Senate may approve the 2026 budget on March 17.
According to him, the country appears to be running the 2023, 2024, and 2025 budgets at the same time.
He described the situation as fiscally reckless.
Tinubu Disrupted Budget Cycle
Furthermore, Obi said President Bola Tinubu inherited a legally approved N21.83 trillion 2023 budget.
However, he said the president later introduced a N2.17 trillion supplementary budget.
Obi noted that the move drew criticism for favouring public office holders while Nigerians endured painful economic reforms without adequate social protection.
Instead of restoring discipline, Obi said the administration repeatedly expanded the 2023 budget without a clear end date.
Rising Budgets, Weak Implementation
Meanwhile, he said the trend continued with the approval of a N35.06 trillion budget for 2024 and a N54.99 trillion budget for 2025.
In less than three years, Obi said the president has exercised appropriation powers over more than N114 trillion.
However, he added that the government has failed to implement even 50 percent of these budgets.
This, he said, has exposed a deep crisis of budget credibility.
More troubling, Obi said Nigeria effectively operated three overlapping budgets until mid-2025, without clear legal or fiscal guidance on when each budget began or expired.
“No serious country manages its budgets or fiscal operations in such a manner,” he said.
Opacity and Missing Details
In addition, Obi criticised the decision to repeal the 2024 and 2025 budgets and re-enact them with extended implementation timelines.
He said Nigerians have not seen the revised budgets or details of the capital projects and their costs.
“This is not reform; it represents fiscal obscurity elevated to the level of state policy,” he said.
Transparency Under Threat
Obi also accused the federal government of weakening public accountability.
He said authorities stopped publishing treasury reports on OpenTreasury.gov.ng, a key transparency platform.
According to him, the government released no budget implementation report in 2025.
Call for Reform
Ultimately, Obi urged the government to return to a clear January–December budget cycle.
He said the move would improve planning, strengthen accountability and restore public trust.
“No nation can operate with such recklessness and succeed,” he said.
