The controversy surrounding the alleged allocation of N1.3 billion to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an agency critics have described as fake, continues to raise questions about transparency and accountability in the 2026 national budget.
Weeks after the issue surfaced, Nigerians are yet to receive a clear explanation from the Federal Government on how the agency found its way into the 2026 budget and was allocated public funds.
The latest attempt to link the controversial allocation to the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari has also been challenged by the Buhari Media Organisation, which has rejected efforts to shift responsibility for the issue to the former administration.
The development has left Nigerians demanding answers on the origin of the alleged agency and the circumstances surrounding its inclusion in the budget.
Meanwhile, another controversy has emerged over the allocation of N18.049 billion to the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) for personnel-related expenditure in the 2026 budget.
According to a report published by Daily Trust on July 27, 2026, the board plans to spend about N15 billion on salaries and N2.6 billion on allowances for its staff.
The allocation has raised questions about the actual staff strength of the institution and whether the proposed expenditure is justified.
There are also concerns over the constitutional basis for the establishment and funding of a government board dedicated specifically to Arabic and Islamic studies in a country that operates a secular constitution.
Critics argue that the creation and funding of institutions perceived to favour one religion over others could deepen concerns about discrimination and create opportunities for abuse of public resources.
The controversy extends to the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, which has also come under scrutiny over its 2026 budget allocations.
Daily Trust, in a July 6, 2026 report, disclosed that the commission earmarked N8.4 billion for road projects, while a July 13 editorial by PUNCH described the development as a “budgeting absurdity.”
Questions have also been raised over the relevance of some of the projects attributed to the commission, particularly where they appear to fall outside its core mandate.
Among the projects listed in the 2026 budget are four road projects in Abeokuta/Mooro valued at N1.4 billion, dental and medical facilities in Iyin, Ekiti State, costing N700 million, and N700 million for solar street lights in Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Critics argue that road construction, medical facilities, ambulances and solar street lighting are not within the primary mandate of an institution established to address the educational needs of Almajiri and out-of-school children.
The inclusion of such projects has therefore raised questions about how they passed through the budgetary process and received approval from the National Assembly before being signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
The concerns have further fueled broader criticism of the constituency and capital project components of the 2026 budget.
A report by Weekend Trust on July 18, 2026, titled “Rot in constituency projects,” alleged widespread irregularities in the budgetary process.
The report stated that 16 federal agencies received more than N205.96 billion for projects considered to be outside their statutory mandates.
The development has intensified calls for greater scrutiny of the National Assembly’s role in the budget process, particularly regarding projects inserted into the budget that have little or no connection with the mandates of the agencies expected to implement them.
The controversy has also raised questions about the responsibility of the executive and legislative arms of government in ensuring that public funds are appropriated for legitimate and clearly defined purposes.
President Tinubu eventually signed the 2026 Appropriation Bill into law as passed by the National Assembly, prompting further questions over whether some of the controversial allocations were thoroughly reviewed before presidential assent.
The issue has drawn comparisons with previous administrations, including that of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was reported to have resisted certain budgetary insertions by the National Assembly.
The concerns are not limited to agency-specific allocations.
A separate report published on July 27, 2026, revealed that the Federal Government earmarked N962.83 billion for the procurement of Sport Utility Vehicles and empowerment projects in the 2026 Appropriation Act.
According to an analysis by civic technology organisation Tracka, the allocation is higher than the combined budgets of seven key federal ministries.
The report also raised serious concerns about the transparency of the empowerment projects contained in the budget.
Tracka reportedly found that only 70 out of 2,579 empowerment projects had clearly identified locations where they were expected to be implemented.
This means that only a small fraction of the projects could be easily traced and independently verified.
The absence of clear project locations has raised questions about how the government intends to monitor implementation and ensure that beneficiaries actually receive the promised interventions.
There are also concerns about the capacity to implement empowerment programmes across the country, particularly in areas facing serious security challenges.
Experts have repeatedly stressed that genuine empowerment programmes require proper planning, training, monitoring and evaluation to ensure that beneficiaries acquire sustainable skills and opportunities.
Tracka further reported that the projects were spread across 184 implementing agencies, including institutions whose statutory responsibilities do not ordinarily include empowerment programmes.
The development has heightened concerns about the growing practice of inserting questionable projects into the national budget and assigning them to agencies without clear responsibility or expertise to execute them.
Taken together, the controversies surrounding the alleged N1.3 billion allocation to the PFIPC, the N18.049 billion personnel budget for the NBAIS, the N8.4 billion Almajiri Commission allocation for road projects and the nearly N1 trillion earmarked for empowerment programmes and SUVs raise fundamental questions about transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility in Nigeria’s 2026 budget.
With the country already facing significant borrowing pressures and mounting debt obligations, concerns are growing over whether public resources are being deployed toward projects that genuinely address the needs of Nigerians.
The Federal Government and the National Assembly must therefore provide clear explanations on the rationale behind these allocations and demonstrate that every naira appropriated in the 2026 budget is backed by a legitimate public purpose, a clearly defined implementing agency and a transparent mechanism for monitoring expenditure.
Without such accountability, Nigerians may continue to question whether the nation’s budget is being used as a genuine instrument of development or as a vehicle for questionable spending and the diversion of public resources.
