Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has seized on a recent United States Department of State report on Nigeria’s fiscal transparency, saying its findings have validated his persistent criticism of the Bola Tinubu administration.
Atiku said the report had exposed serious gaps in the government’s disclosure of public revenues and expenditure, reinforcing his argument that Nigerians deserve greater clarity on how the nation’s resources are generated, borrowed and spent.
In a statement by his media office, the ADC candidate said the findings should serve as a wake-up call to the Federal Government to strengthen transparency and accountability in the management of public finances.
The US assessment reportedly found that Nigeria did not meet the minimum requirements for fiscal transparency during the period under review.
While acknowledging that the government published its enacted budget and end-of-year report and made them accessible to the public, including online, the report faulted the administration for failing to release its executive budget proposal within a reasonable timeframe.
It also raised concerns that Nigeria’s budget documents did not provide a sufficiently complete picture of government revenues and expenditures, including inadequate details on spending supporting executive offices.
More significantly, the report reportedly identified a disconnect between approved budget figures and actual implementation, noting that actual revenues and expenditures did not reasonably correspond with those contained in the enacted budget.
For Atiku, the findings echoed concerns he has repeatedly raised about the management of Nigeria’s public finances.
He argued that a democracy cannot function effectively when citizens lack timely and comprehensive information about how public resources are collected and deployed.
“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.
He maintained that fiscal transparency should be treated as a fundamental requirement of governance rather than a political slogan.
“Transparency is not a slogan. It is the foundation of good governance,” he said.
Auditor-General also reportedly raised questions about the independence of Nigeria’s Office of the Auditor-General and its ability to meet international standards of public financial oversight.
Atiku’s media office said the observation further strengthened the former vice president’s argument for stronger institutions capable of independently scrutinising government finances.
The ADC candidate warned that weak financial disclosure could have consequences beyond domestic accountability, particularly for a country seeking foreign investment and relying on multilateral institutions to finance infrastructure and social programmes.
According to him, investors, development partners and credit-rating agencies need reliable and timely information to properly assess the strength of an economy.
Atiku therefore called for comprehensive and timely publication of data covering government earnings from oil, taxes and borrowing, as well as detailed information on expenditure.
He said greater transparency would help restore public confidence, strengthen anti-corruption efforts and give investors a clearer picture of the Nigerian economy.
The former vice president insisted that public resources belonged to Nigerians and that citizens should not have to rely on political claims or incomplete disclosures to know how their money was being managed.