Atiku Queries Tinubu’s Budget Over ₦1.08tn Allocation to Cooperative College

By Benson Daniel

Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has criticised the 2026 Appropriation Act over the allocation of ₦1.08 trillion to the Federal Cooperative College, Oji River, Enugu State, to execute 2,791 capital projects across the country.

In a statement issued through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the budget provision as a disturbing example of what he called budget distortion, arguing that it undermines the Federal Government’s repeated claims of fiscal discipline and prudent economic management.

According to Atiku, assigning thousands of projects to an institution established primarily to promote cooperative education raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability and compliance with public finance principles.

He questioned how a federal cooperative college could be expected to oversee projects including roads, drainage systems, solar streetlights, markets, football pitches, dialysis centres, ambulances, water schemes, recycling plants and empowerment programmes spread across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The former vice president also challenged the legal basis for the arrangement, asking who nominated the projects, who approved them, who would supervise their implementation and who would ultimately be held accountable for the expenditure.

Atiku argued that the development contradicts the administration’s justification for painful economic reforms, higher taxation and increased borrowing, which it has defended as necessary measures to restore fiscal stability.

He maintained that any government asking citizens to make sacrifices while allocating such a large sum through an institution without the statutory mandate or institutional capacity to manage projects of that magnitude cannot credibly claim to be promoting fiscal responsibility.

Describing the allocation as inconsistent with sound governance, Atiku said it raises fundamental questions about the credibility of the 2026 federal budget and the integrity of Nigeria’s public expenditure framework.

As of the time of filing this report, the Federal Government had not publicly responded to Atiku’s allegations or the issues raised in the budget analysis.