‘The President Allows It’ — Falana Faults Tinubu Over Alleged N1.4bn Budget Padding

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has accused President Bola Tinubu of permitting budget padding by failing to reject alleged illegal insertions made by the National Assembly into the 2026 federal budget.

Falana made the allegation on Thursday while speaking at the Penpushing Media 8th Anniversary Lecture held in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

His comments followed recent controversy surrounding the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education (NCAOOSCE), which came under scrutiny after ₦8.4 billion was allocated in its 2026 budget for road projects in Ogun, Ekiti and Katsina states despite the commission’s education-focused mandate.

The commission has since denied responsibility for the projects, insisting they were inserted into its budget by the National Assembly as constituency projects.

Falana described the development as a clear example of budget padding and called for an immediate review of the budget to remove projects that fall outside the commission’s statutory responsibilities.

“It was recently disclosed that a road in Ogun State will be constructed with a sum of ₦1.4 billion. And that is what we call budget padding. Members of the National Assembly insert projects into the budgets of government agencies,” he said.

He argued that the President possesses constitutional powers to reject such insertions but has consistently allowed them to remain.

“We have always tried to expose them. But it appears that the President allows it because he has the right to object to illegal insertions into the budget. These days, they are allowed,” Falana stated.

The senior lawyer also expressed concern over what he described as widespread corruption within public institutions, warning that weak oversight mechanisms continue to encourage abuse of public resources.

According to him, the full scale of financial misconduct under any administration often becomes apparent only after it leaves office.

Falana urged Nigerians to play a more active role in fighting corruption by reporting suspicious wealth to anti-graft agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

“If you know somebody is building houses beyond his means, you have the right to secretly report to the EFCC or ICPC. That’s the only way to stop it,” he said.

He maintained that stronger citizen participation, media vigilance and institutional accountability remain essential to strengthening transparency and good governance in Nigeria.