Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, a former Special Adviser on Political Affairs to President Bola Tinubu, has called on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to explain the alleged ₦6.93 trillion padding in the 2025 budget.
His statement follows a recent report by BudgIT Nigeria, a civic and transparency-focused non-governmental organization. BudgIT alleged that the 10th National Assembly inserted 11,122 projects into the 2025 budget, totaling ₦6.93 trillion.
According to the report, 238 of those projects are each worth more than ₦5 billion, adding up to ₦2 trillion. BudgIT also claimed that 984 projects valued at ₦1.71 trillion and 1,119 other projects ranging from ₦500 million to ₦1 billion—totaling ₦641.38 billion—were included with little to no justification.
The analysis further showed that 3,573 projects worth ₦653.19 billion were linked directly to federal constituencies, while 1,972 projects valued at ₦444.04 billion were tied to senatorial districts.
Reacting to the claims, Baba-Ahmed stated that both the National Assembly and the Presidency must give Nigerians a clear explanation.
He also suggested that the government should take legal action if BudgIT’s report is false.
“NASS and the Presidency should sue BudgIT for reporting the insertion of trillions into the 2025 budget if its claim amounts to falsehood. The alternative suggests accepting the genuineness of the published findings. In any case, government owes Nigerians an explanation,” he wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday.
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