Obi Slams ₦7 Trillion Budget Fraud, Says Nigeria Has Become a ‘Crime Scene’

Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has issued a scathing critique of the 2025 national budget, describing the country as a “crime scene” plagued by entrenched corruption and fiscal recklessness.

Obi’s remarks follow a recent revelation by civic organization BudgIT, which uncovered over ₦7 trillion in questionable projects allegedly inserted into the 2025 budget. Obi called the findings “deeply troubling” and claimed that the actual scale of misappropriation could be even greater.

“How else can we explain the distressing revelations…? Nigeria must cease to function as a crime scene and be repositioned for genuine development,” Obi said in a statement released Tuesday.

The ₦7 trillion in alleged fraudulent insertions, Obi noted, exceeds the combined allocations to four critical ministries: Education (₦3.52 trillion), Health (₦2.48 trillion), Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (₦260 billion), and Agriculture and Food Security (₦636.08 billion) totaling ₦6.896 trillion.

“That figure is even more than the ₦6.1 trillion allocated to national security at a time when Nigeria is among the most terrorised nations in the world,” he said.

Obi condemned what he called “brazen impunity” among Nigeria’s leaders, blaming widespread corruption for the country’s underinvestment in education, healthcare, agriculture, and security. He cited the high number of out-of-school children, rising malnutrition, and hunger as direct consequences of mismanagement.

“Our national resources must be transparently managed and strategically invested. We must turn this nation around. A new Nigeria is POssible,” he concluded, reaffirming his long-standing anti-corruption stance.