NIGERIA: Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has claimed vindication following a recent report by the United States Department of State which raised concerns over fiscal transparency and public disclosure under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
The report, according to Atiku’s Media Office, identified significant gaps in Nigeria’s disclosure of government revenues and expenditures, including concerns over the timing and completeness of key budget documents.
Atiku has repeatedly accused the Tinubu administration of failing to meet acceptable standards of fiscal transparency, accountability and public disclosure, insisting that Nigerians have a right to know how public resources are generated and spent.
The US report reportedly acknowledged that the Nigerian government made its enacted budget and end-of-year report accessible to the public, including online, but noted that it did not publish its executive budget proposal within a reasonable period.
It further stated that Nigeria’s budget documents did not provide a substantially complete picture of government revenues and expenditures or adequately break down spending in support of executive offices.
Of particular concern, the report noted that actual government revenues and expenditures did not reasonably correspond with those contained in the enacted budget.
The findings have provided fresh ammunition for Atiku, who has consistently questioned discrepancies between Nigeria’s approved budgets and their implementation.
According to the former Vice President, the latest assessment reinforces his longstanding argument that the Federal Government must provide Nigerians with detailed and timely information on the sources and application of public funds.
The report also reportedly criticised the Office of the Auditor-General, saying it did not meet international standards of independence and had failed to publish substantive reports.
The US Department of State consequently concluded that Nigeria did not meet the minimum requirements for fiscal transparency during the period under review, citing inadequate and untimely disclosure of government revenues and expenditures and weaknesses in credible audit trails.
Reacting to the report, Atiku said the findings confirmed what he had been warning Nigerians about for years.
“This report confirms what we have been saying that Nigerians deserve to know where every kobo is coming from and where it is being spent. They are our resources and not the resources of President Bola Tinubu and his family and friends,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President had previously argued that lack of transparency in public finance undermines accountability, fuels corruption and weakens public confidence in government.
“Transparency is not a slogan. It is the foundation of good governance,” he had said in one of his interventions on the issue.
Atiku further stressed that fiscal transparency was not merely a domestic governance issue but a critical benchmark for investors, donor agencies and international credit-rating institutions.
He argued that Nigeria’s dependence on foreign investment and multilateral financing makes credible disclosure of government revenues, borrowing and expenditure particularly important.
According to him, publishing comprehensive and timely information on revenues from oil, taxation and borrowing, alongside details of expenditure, is essential to restoring confidence in the Nigerian economy amid mounting debt and inflationary pressures.
The ADC presidential candidate maintained that Nigerians should be able to independently scrutinise government finances and track how public resources are deployed.
The latest US assessment is therefore likely to intensify political debate over the Tinubu administration’s handling of public finances, particularly as the government continues to defend its economic reforms and efforts to stabilise the Nigerian economy.
For Atiku, however, the report has reinforced his central argument: that economic reforms cannot be considered credible without transparency, accountability and full disclosure in the management of public resources.
