ADC Accuses Tinubu Government Of Budget Failure And Policy Confusion

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) on Thursday accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of deep policy failure and said Nigerians were paying the price through weak service delivery, insecurity and worsening hardship.

In a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, the opposition party said the Federal Government had failed to translate large revenue inflows and heavy borrowing into effective budget execution. The ADC said this pattern, rather than isolated mistakes, showed persistent governance breakdown that was hurting households and slowing public projects.

The party said public records suggested that the 2024 budget was extended into 2025, while implementation remained poor through the third quarter of 2025. It said only 17.7 per cent of the capital budget had been released at that stage, and total implementation was still below 30 per cent, with delayed internal disbursements.

The ADC rejected the government’s explanation that overlapping budgets represented a deliberate transition plan to complete multi-year projects. According to the party, that defence did not match what ministries, contractors and citizens were experiencing on the ground.

It said roughly 30 per cent of the 2025 budget was scheduled to run from February 2026 to 30 November 2026, while the remaining 70 per cent was being shifted into the 2026 fiscal cycle, even though the 2026 budget was still before the National Assembly three months into the year.

The party also referred to President Tinubu’s earlier commitment that capital components of the 2024 and 2025 budgets would be completed by 31 March 2026, and argued that the timetable was no longer realistic.

Breaking down sector figures, the ADC said capital implementation in the Ministry of Power stood at 3.6 per cent and Communications Technology at 8.9 per cent. It added that Education and Health stood at 23.5 per cent and 32.5 per cent respectively. The party said those sectors should not be left underfunded because they directly affect national development, productivity and family welfare.

The statement said no serious administration should keep key human development ministries underfunded while senior officials maintained what it described as lavish public spending in a period of widespread poverty.

On security spending, the ADC said the Ministry of Defence had reached 113.45 per cent of its budget, mostly because of emergency releases through the Service-Wide Vote. Even so, it said insecurity had not eased and cited reports of killings across Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Kebbi during Ramadan.

The party said the administration continued to announce strong revenue collection and improved foreign reserve positions, but maintained that borrowing had increased while budgets remained poorly executed and contractors were still unpaid. It asked what practical outcomes citizens should see from higher taxes, loans and government receipts when living costs and poverty pressures were still rising.

In the same statement, the ADC said analysts had identified at least seven appointments and multiple policy decisions that were either reversed quickly or adjusted after public backlash. It said repeated reversals reflected weak coordination at the centre of government and pointed to a leadership team that was reacting to pressure instead of planning effectively.

The opposition party also argued that the administration had become overly focused on electoral calculations and power retention. It said this political concentration had displaced day-to-day governance responsibilities and left many Nigerians feeling abandoned amid economic stress.

It added that despite official claims of progress, the country still faced severe poverty pressures, with many families unable to afford basic food and transport. The party said current conditions had deepened public distrust because citizens were not seeing visible gains from public finance decisions.

The ADC maintained that governance should now shift from messaging to measurable delivery. It said the immediate priorities should include timely budget implementation, transparent releases to ministries, payment of verified contractors, and stricter accountability for emergency spending channels.

The party said restoring confidence would require fewer policy reversals, better coordination between fiscal planning and implementation, and clear evidence that public revenue was being directed to services that touch ordinary Nigerians. It insisted that anything short of that would leave the country in a cycle of high government spending with limited impact on daily life.