*Says Administration Fails Basic Fiscal Transparency Test, While Overtaxing Nigerians
FORMER vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has described the response of the President Bola Tinubu administration response to the United States (US) Government’s assessment of Nigeria’s fiscal transparency as an embarrassing attempt to bury a serious indictment beneath bureaucratic grammar.
The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the Presidency failed to address the substance of the assessment, choosing instead to dismiss it as an “external benchmark” that does not capture the administration’s reforms.
Recall that the US said Nigeria failed to meet minimum fiscal transparency requirements and made “no significant progress” in addressing deficiencies concerning budget information, revenue and expenditure reporting, audit independence and public access to procurement information.
Atiku, in his reaction to the Presidency’s response, said: “What exactly is the Tinubu Presidency saying? Nigeria failed the minimum fiscal transparency test, and its response is essentially: Yes, we failed, but the test does not tell the whole story.
“That is not a defence; it is an admission wrapped in grammar. If, after all the reforms this administration advertises Nigeria still cannot satisfy minimum fiscal transparency requirements, the problem is not the assessment. The problem is the government.
“The contradiction is even more disturbing when the government’s appetite for taxation is considered. The CBN’s July 2026 Business Expectations Survey showed that 70.8 per cent of respondents identified high, and multiple taxation as their biggest business constraint.
“Yet, the same administration understands the importance of tax relief when dealing with major oil operators, offering performance-based incentives to attract investment.
“So, Tinubu understands that excessive taxation can discourage investment when large corporations are involved, but somehow forgets the same economic principle when Nigerian manufacturers, SMEs, traders and entrepreneurs are being suffocated by multiple taxes and levies.
“You cannot demand first-class compliance from taxpayers while offering third-class accountability in return.”
The former vice president challenged Tinubu over his promise to “soon publish” how resources arising from fuel subsidy removal are being utilised, over three years after subsidy removal.
He stated: “Open the books now, publish a full account of the subsidy savings and show Nigerians, project by project, where the money went.
“Publish the financial details of the rehabilitation of government-owned refineries. How much was spent, who received the contracts, what was delivered and why Nigerians are again being promised that the refineries will ‘come back to work.’
“The answer to an accusation of opacity is transparency, not another press statement. If the US assessment is wrong, disprove it with the records. If it is incomplete, complete the picture with the accounts.
“Nigerians have paid enough. They have sacrificed enough. Tinubu should stop explaining and start accounting. Open the books, show Nigerians the money.
“The Tinubu government has failed a fundamental test of accountability, and Nigerians are living with the consequences of that failure every day in worsening hardship.”
Atiku added: “The country is bleeding, and the evidence is no longer hidden. It is reflected in local economic data, in the daily struggles of Nigerian families and businesses, and in the assessments of international economic observers.
“Nigeria cannot afford another four years of failure disguised as reform. Tinubu’s failure must not be repeated.”
