By Abubakar Yunus
The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Tanimu Yakubu, has dismissed claims that the proposed N12.83tn Service-Wide Vote in the 2026 Appropriation Bill is a discretionary fund under the control of the Presidency, insisting that the allocation is backed by law and tied to clearly defined national obligations.
Yakubu, in a statement issued on Wednesday, said the Service-Wide Vote was created under the annual Appropriation Act to accommodate expenditures that cut across Ministries, Departments and Agencies, stressing that it was “a method of classification and fiscal control, not a secret reserve.”
He said, “The N12.83tn figure is the sum of named obligations. It is not a secret reserve. It is not cash held by the Presidency. It is not a licence for the Presidency, or any other institution, to spend outside the Appropriation Act.”
The Budget Office boss explained that the 2026 Service-Wide Vote comprises N2.18tn for personnel costs, N1.52tn for other recurrent expenditure and N9.12tn for capital projects, bringing the total allocation to N12.83tn.
According to him, the personnel component covers wage adjustments, promotion arrears, pensions, gratuities, death benefits, insurance and other statutory obligations owed to public servants and retirees.
He disclosed that the budget provides N995.28bn for salaries and wage-related adjustments, including N150bn for promotion and salary arrears as well as about N845.3bn for minimum wage-related adjustments and negotiations involving tertiary institutions, health workers and other categories of public employees.
Yakubu added that another N1.049tn had been earmarked for pensions, gratuities and death benefits, warning that describing such provisions as a slush fund ignored the legitimate beneficiaries.
“To describe these provisions as discretionary wealth is to erase the workers, retirees and bereaved families to whom the obligations are owed,” he said.
The Director-General further stated that the recurrent component finances nationwide obligations such as military and police operations, immunisation programmes, the Presidential Amnesty Programme, the Pension Protection Fund and social investment initiatives.
He said the allocation includes N263.51bn for GAVI and immunisation support, N233.71bn for the Pension Protection Fund, N115bn for the Presidential Amnesty Programme, N100bn for military operations and N50bn for police operations.
Yakubu also attributed the size of the capital component to inherited financial commitments, noting that it contains N3.5tn for outstanding legacy obligations from 2025 and N1.3tn for contractors’ liabilities carried over from 2024.
He explained that the capital allocation also provides N1.367tn for grant and donor-funded projects as well as N482.76bn for counterpart funding for Nigeria-United States health sector interventions, alongside provisions for transport, security, housing, clean energy and development finance.
The Budget Office chief stressed that an appropriation does not automatically translate into cash available for spending, explaining that releases depend on revenue availability, cash plans, procurement procedures, treasury controls and legislative oversight.
“Appropriation grants authority up to a ceiling. It does not place the whole ceiling in cash at the disposal of an office,” Yakubu said.
He maintained that no single institution controls the entire expenditure process, adding that the Budget Office only coordinates estimates and budget implementation.
“The Presidency does not receive the Service-Wide Vote as its institutional income, hold it as a single fund, or possess a general power to spend it at discretion,” he stated.
Yakubu acknowledged that the Service-Wide Vote increased from N9.31tn in 2025 to N12.83tn in the 2026 proposal, representing a 37.8 per cent rise.
He, however, argued that the increase was driven by legacy liabilities, personnel adjustments, pensions, security funding, health interventions and donor-supported projects rather than discretionary spending.
“The Service-Wide Vote is not beyond scrutiny. No public expenditure should be. But scrutiny must follow the money as it is classified, authorised, released and paid,” he said.
Yakubu added that the Budget Office would continue to provide explanations on the composition and implementation of the vote, insisting that public debate should be guided by facts rather than misconceptions.
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