Peter Obi criticizes Tinubu administration over IMF report on ₦8.83 trillion off-budget spending

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party, has accused President Bola Tinubu's administration of corruption, citing a recent International Monetary Fund IMF report on Nigeria's public finances. Obi stated on Sunday that approximately ₦8.83 trillion in government expenditure for 2025 was not included in the national budget, describing this as "grand corruption." He highlighted that this expenditure, which represents about 2% of Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product, was not subject to legislative oversight or administrative scrutiny. Obi noted that this amount exceeds the combined federal allocations for education and health, suggesting it could significantly improve these sectors if properly utilized. He characterized this as a pattern of financial mismanagement and renewed his call for President Tinubu to resign, urging Nigerians to demand greater accountability. The IMF had previously disclosed that Nigeria's public spending equivalent to about 2% of GDP was unreported in official budgets, which obscured the country's true financing needs and understated the fiscal deficit. Christian Ebeke, IMF Resident Representative in Nigeria, confirmed that these unreported expenditures were linked to major government infrastructure projects executed outside the formal budget framework. The IMF warned that this practice complicates policy coordination, weakens oversight, and reduces transparency, but also noted that the Federal Government has started implementing