₦airaland Forum

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government over reported allocations of about N8.05 billion for church and mosque-related projects in the 2026 budget.

The ex-Vice President accused the President Bola Tinubu administration of using religion to shield questionable public spending.

Atiku spoke in a statement issued on Tuesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, following reports highlighting religious project allocations contained in the 2026 Appropriation Bill.

The ADC presidential candidate expressed concern that billions of naira were reportedly earmarked for religious projects at a time many Nigerians continue to struggle with rising poverty, deteriorating public services and increasing debt.

Citing an analysis by public accountability organisation, Tracka, Atiku said about N1.91 billion was allocated to church-related projects, while another N6.14 billion was budgeted for mosque-related projects.

He argued that the budget failed to adequately disclose the identities of many of the religious institutions expected to benefit from the allocations, making independent verification difficult.

“God is not a laundering machine for public funds. The Tinubu administration has no moral or legal licence to hide behind the altar, the minbar, or the sacred robes of our priests and imams to mask questionable appropriations,” Atiku said.

The former Vice President maintained that if the projects were legitimate, the Federal Government should immediately publish the names of every beneficiary church and mosque, project locations, implementing agencies and the legal basis for the allocations.

“If these projects are genuine, publish the names of every beneficiary institution, disclose every project location, and execute every project in full public view,” he added.

Atiku further accused the administration of dragging religious institutions into what he described as opaque budgeting practices, warning that places of worship should not be used to conceal public expenditure.

“The Tinubu administration has crossed the moral red line by dragging the altar and the minbar into the marketplace of opaque budgeting,” he stated.

He also urged the Federal Government to keep religious leaders and institutions out of political and budgetary controversies, insisting that churches and mosques should remain centres of moral guidance rather than instruments for what he described as questionable appropriations.

“Faith must never become a camouflage for budgeting by concealment,” Atiku said.

Christistruth00:
Atiku na word cup Champion Thief

nwirinedu:
8bn for church and mosque, don't know about mosque but churches get billions from tithes and offerings already! Is Bulabu going to the high heavens to buy votes too?
You won't hear the brainless church apologists say anything about this.

nwirinedu:
8bn for church and mosque, don't know about mosque but churches get billions from tithes and offerings already! Is Bulabu going to the high heavens to buy votes too?
You won't hear the brainless church apologists say anything about this.

OgbeniOja1:
Because he exposed your Lord Nd personal saviour? Is that your best attack or would I say defence for you principal bulabaaa

Bobloco:
God not laundering machine for public funds’ — Atiku tackles Tinubu over N8bn church, mosque budget




https://dailypost.ng/2026/07/21/god-not-laundering-machine-for-public-funds-atiku-tackles-tinubu-over-n8bn-church-mosque-budget/

Christistruth00:
Atiku na world cup Champion Thief

onuman:
They threatened Peter Obi, he slowed down, now Atiku is firing from all barrels.

Gingerly:
Atiku has recently been relentlessly holding Bobo Chicago by the blokos.

But these people are real fraudsters.

"If you are not corrupt, your wife is not corrupt, your family is not corrupt, those around you are not corrupt, then you would have reduced corruption by 50%". (Obi, 2022).

Christistruth00:
Atiku na world cup Champion Thief

Ofunaofu:
Report: Current Govt Added More Debt in Two Years Than Nigeria Accumulated in 55 Years

• Decries Nigeria’s debt service-to-revenue ratio

•Urges FG to declare fiscal emergency

A new policy brief has warned that Nigeria’s worsening debt profile and weak revenue generation have pushed the country into a dangerous fiscal position, with the current administration accumulating more debt in two years than Nigeria recorded during its first 55 years after independence.

The report, released by the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics LTD/GTE, a Nigerian policy think tank, argued that the country’s debt crisis has evolved into a governance and revenue emergency, as debt servicing obligations now exceed the federal government’s retained earnings.
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According to the think tank, Nigeria’s public debt rose sharply from N87.38 trillion in June 2023 to N159.28 trillion by the end of 2025, with President Bola Tinubu’s administration accounting for about N65.9 trillion of the increase within its first two years in office.

The organisation in the brief titled: “Nigeria Is Borrowing to Breathe—and the Clock Is Ticking”, noted that Nigeria accumulated only about N12.06 trillion in debt from independence in 1960 up to 2015, meaning the current administration added more than five times that amount in just 24 months.

The report stated that while previous governments also contributed significantly to the country’s rising debt burden, the speed of accumulation under the current administration had intensified concerns over fiscal sustainability.

“President Bola Tinubu’s administration has added a further N65.9 trillion in just two years. To put that in perspective: it took Nigeria’s first 55 years of independence to accumulate N12 trillion in debt. The current administration has added more than five times that amount in 24 months,” it argued.

It recalled that Nigeria briefly became almost debt-free externally after the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo secured an $18 billion Paris Club debt relief package in 2005 and paid $12 billion to extinguish about $30 billion in external obligations.


https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/05/22/report-current-govt-added-more-debt-in-two-years-than-nigeria-accumulated-in-55-years/

onuman:
They threatened Peter Obi, he slowed down, now Atiku is firing from all barrels.

Gingerly:
Atiku has recently been relentlessly holding Bobo Chicago by the blokos.

But these people are real fraudsters.

"If you are not corrupt, your wife is not corrupt, your family is not corrupt, those around you are not corrupt, then you would have reduced corruption by 50%". (Obi, 2022).

anonimi:
Atiku is a learner in corruption compared with the master strategist of a-looter APC progreThief politicians.

No one beats the record of Jagaban in stealing. No one.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WzbBqAWPfI

Aug 29, 2023

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun made this known at the end of the inaugural Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja.
Mr. Edun said that the benefit of the subsidy removal will be plough back into various sectors to improve business environment for local and foreign investment.
He added that with the increased revenue from subsidy removal, various palliatives have been made available to cushion its effect on a short, medium and long-term basis.






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn29b0SkCWU?si=s_