Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has questioned the inclusion of ₦6.44 billion in the 2026 budget for a “Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers,” despite Nigeria having already failed to qualify for the tournament.
Atiku described the allocation as disturbing and demanded answers over why public funds were budgeted for a competition the country had already been eliminated from.
The former Vice President made his position known in a statement issued on Wednesday by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu.
His reaction comes amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
On Tuesday, police arrested Adeniyi Adeyemi, identified as the Director-General of the alleged fake agency, which received a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 budget.
Reacting to the latest discovery, Atiku questioned the rationale behind earmarking ₦6.44 billion for the “Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.”
“How does a serious government budget ₦6.44 billion for presidential support for World Cup qualifiers after the country had already been eliminated? What competition was the money intended to support? Who inserted the provision, who approved it, and who was expected to benefit from an expenditure whose stated purpose had already ceased to exist?” Atiku asked.
He argued that the allocation was more than an error in judgment, describing it as evidence of deeper flaws in Nigeria’s budgeting process.
According to him, the provision reinforces public suspicion that the national budget has become a channel for questionable expenditures, wasteful spending and allocations lacking any legitimate public purpose.
Atiku called for an independent investigation into both the PFIPC controversy involving Adeyemi and the ₦6.44 billion World Cup budget allocation.
“The scandal is not merely that one man allegedly impersonated public authority. The greater scandal is that the Tinubu administration allegedly opened the doors of the Nigerian state to him, allowed him to acquire the appearance and privileges of official legitimacy, and permitted him to interact with institutions and diplomatic interests in the name of the Federal Government,” Atiku said.
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