N6.44 billion for a World Cup Nigeria didn't qualify for?

Atiku Abubakar has exposed what looks like another massive budget fraud in the Tinubu administration. He specifically called out the N6.44 billion allocated for a Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, even though Nigeria was eliminated from qualification in November 2025, a full month before the 2026 budget was presented to the National Assembly.

In his statement, Atiku asked the questions we should all be asking: How does a serious government budget N6.44 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? He linked this to the PFIPC scandal, pointing out that the recent arrest of Adeniyi Adeyemi, the self-styled Director-General, is a calculated move to extract statements against the opposition rather than uncover the full truth.

The weightier scandal, as Atiku put it, is how an organisation the presidency now claims was fictitious allegedly penetrated the highest levels of government, obtained diplomatic recognition, recruited over 300 personnel, secured office at the National Secretariat, and reportedly received N1.3 billion in the 2026 Appropriation Act. This could not have happened without active official collaboration or a catastrophic breakdown of oversight. The Tinubu administration has a peculiar proclivity for propaganda, and we are reliably informed that there are plans to twist the facts and absolve those who ought to answer questions. How long will Nigerians allow the national budget to become a warehouse for dubious expenditure?