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Federal Government refutes claims of hidden spending and revenue diversion based on World Bank report

The Federal Government has rejected media reports alleging hidden spending and diversion of federation revenue, stating these claims misrepresent findings from the World Bank's latest Nigeria Development Update. In a statement, the Federal Ministry of Finance, signed by the Minister of State for Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, clarified that interpretations circulating in some media platforms wrongly characterize statutory fiscal processes as leakages. The ministry explained that such claims reflect a misunderstanding of Nigeria's fiscal structure and how revenues are distributed through the Federation Account Allocation Committee FAAC. It emphasized that FAAC deductions, which include statutory transfers, savings, investments, security-related expenditures, cost-of-collection charges, refunds to Ministries, Departments and Agencies MDAs, and transfers to subnational governments, are legitimate fiscal flows. The government also noted that commentators are using outdated figures and ignoring recent reforms implemented in 2026, including a new Executive Order to safeguard petroleum revenue remittances. The World Bank report, according to the ministry, acknowledges these reforms, which are projected to improve transparency and increase distributable revenues by about 0.4 percent of GDP annually. The ministry highlighted that the overall tone of the World Bank report was positive, contrary to interpretations suggesting fiscal distress, pointing to diversified economic growth, easing infl