Atiku Abubakar challenges Tinubu administration on budget, PFIPC accounts and US lobbying

Former Vice President and ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has repeatedly accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of constitutional breaches and a credibility crisis. He condemned a ₦22.15 billion allocation for 106 traditional rulers’ palaces in the 2026 Appropriation Act, calling it unconstitutional and demanding clarification on the projects’ beneficiaries. Atiku also urged the National Assembly to summon the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Accountant‑General of the Federation over conflicting statements on the opening of the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) accounts, describing the dispute as a "web of deception" and pressing Tinubu to state which version he believes.

In parallel, Atiku hired the Washington‑based lobbying firm Von Batten‑Montague‑York to provide more than 60 pages of U.S. Department of Justice documents concerning a 1993 civil forfeiture case that linked Tinubu to alleged heroin‑proceeds. The firm forwarded these records to officials in the Donald Trump administration and members of Congress, prompting the Nigerian Presidency to denounce the move as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and an attempt to externalise domestic politics.

The ADC has also taken public stances on other government actions, rejecting the proposed Social Media Shutdown Bill as evidence of a "scared" Tinubu government and criticizing the dramatic increase in the Service‑Wide Vote allocation in the 2026 budget, labeling it a potential slush fund.