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Atiku Cautions Against Wild Beasts Swallowing Nigeria’s 2025 Budget
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria’s 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar has cautioned against wild animals swallowing the 2025 budgetary allocations to critical sectors.
Atiku, who was Nigeria’s Vice President from 1999-2007 bared his mind in a statement in Abuja, on Sunday, in which he cited instances and cautioned against a repeat, particularly in the health sector.
He observed that “In recent years, there have been bizarre claims of animals being held accountable for missing public funds.”
With that concern, Atiku pointed out that “To this end, the Federal Government has to be deliberate about putting mechanisms in place for public audit and accountability in its US$1.07 billion budgetary appropriation in the health sector.”
He expressed his concerns under the subject, ‘2025 Budget: Snakes, termites, monkeys must not swallow $1.07 billion earmarked for health, Atiku warns’.
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The statement reads, “Former Vice President of Nigeria Atiku Abubakar has warned that claims of animals such as snakes, termites, gorillas and monkeys swallowing public funds must never be the fate of the funds budgeted for the critical sector of health in the 2025 Budget.
“In recent years, there have been bizarre claims of animals being held accountable for missing public funds. Some of these fairytale-like claims were never investigated or punished to deter future offenders.
“Against the backdrop of dwindling resources that has been exacerbated by the withdrawal of support in certain areas of our healthcare services, it is important that every kobo budgeted for the health sector has to be maximally utilised.
“To this end, the Federal Government has to be deliberate about putting mechanisms in place for public audit and accountability in its US$1.07 billion budgetary appropriation in the health sector.
“The former Vice President specifically queries the Federal Government for not providing comprehensive information on how it plans to expend the over one billion dollars in the primary health sector.
“Atiku noted that while healthcare, especially the primary sector deserves rapid investment in order to promote access to quality and affordable health services to Nigerians, it will be immoral of the government not to provide extensive details of how the money allotted for the purpose would be dispensed.
“We have read that the Federal Government has a plan to expend a whooping sum of $1.07 billion in the primary health sector. This amount is in addition to the N2.48 trillion, which had earlier been proposed for the health sector in the initial draft of the budget.
“This development gets even more troubling when the government equally announced that the $1.07 billion it is adding to the health sector at the sub-national level was mainly sourced through foreign loans and a fraction of it being provided through an international donor agency.
“In other words, Nigeria is expected to pay these loans back and it is required that the Nigerian people know the details of these loans and that its expenditure must be conveyed in a policy envelop that will explain how it will be spent,” Atiku noted.
He says further that the failure of the Federal Government not to commit to a single physical infrastructure in expending the budgetary provision smacks of fraud.
According to the government, “the funds will be directed towards improving governance in healthcare and enhancing primary healthcare services nationwide. This financing will support recruitment, training, and retention of healthcare workers and teachers at the sub-national level…”
For an administration that has been known to have a deficiency of trust in the administration of its humanitarian services, Nigerians cannot take the risk of accepting a shoddy explanation on a budgetary provision that lacks a mechanism of tracking how the money is to be expended.
It is difficult for Nigerians to believe this current Federal Government given its proclivity to alternative truths – especially on their claims about investments in the social infrastructure.
It is worrisome that the Tinubu administration continues to lie to Nigerians on the status of our tertiary hospitals when the sorry state of those hospitals lay bare for Nigerians to see.
Just recently, the government began a campaign of improvements in the standard of our tertiary health institutions, but Nigerians know that these teaching hospitals often lack basic amenities such as access to a steady supply of electricity.
Undoubtedly, the Tinubu administration has failed woefully in the health sector because of the poor funding of the sector.
The major diseases in the primary health sector remain malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS treatment.
If President Tinubu’s administration meant well in its claim to prioritize the health of Nigerians, his government should explain how it plans to spend this intervention fund in addressing these diseases in the primary health sector.
On the contrary, what the government announced in its panic response to President Donald Trump’s announcement of the cancellation of American aids for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria was a paltry N5 billion.
If the Tinubu administration fails to provide a comprehensive framework to safeguard its purported huge investment in the health sector nor subject the appropriations to the scrutiny of the National Assembly, it may be safe to conclude that this is another episode of the administration committing a fraud in the name of public interest.
Oil marketers have warned that Nigerians may soon pay as much as ₦1,500 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, as global oil prices surge following the escalating conflict involving Iran in the Middle East.
The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, issued the warning on Tuesday while speaking on a television programme on the impact of the global crisis on fuel prices.
According to him, the current volatility in the international oil market has already pushed petrol prices above ₦1,000 per litre at the depot level, with the ex-depot price from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery now standing at about ₦1,175 per litre.
He explained that once logistics, transportation, and other operational costs are added, the final pump price could rise significantly, possibly reaching ₦1,500 per litre in the near future.
Despite concerns about the rising cost of fuel, Gillis-Harry noted that steady availability of petroleum products from the Dangote Refinery remains a major relief for Nigeria, stressing that consistent supply is better than a nationwide fuel scarcity.
He added that the refinery’s production capacity is helping to stabilize supply across the country at a time when global markets remain highly unstable.
The latest price adjustment by the Dangote Refinery marks the fourth review within two weeks. Petrol prices increased from ₦995 per litre to ₦1,175 per litre, while diesel rose from ₦1,430 to about ₦1,620 per litre.
The development comes amid a sharp spike in international crude oil prices triggered by fears of supply disruptions due to the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Brent crude recently climbed above $102 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose to around $101 per barrel.
Industry analysts say the rising oil prices are already having a ripple effect on Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, forcing depot operators and fuel marketers to adjust their prices in response to the global market trend.
Meanwhile, the management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stated that although Nigeria introduced a crude-for-naira arrangement to support local refineries, the facility still purchases crude oil at international market prices, leaving it exposed to global price fluctuations.
The United Nations has raised the alarm over a dramatic surge in attacks on schools worldwide, reporting a 166% increase between 2021 and 2024.
The rise highlights the escalating dangers faced by children in conflict zones.
United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nashif, revealed the figures during the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on the rights of the child on Monday.
The session, themed “Mainstreaming the Rights of Children in Armed Conflict: Prevention and Protection,” focused on protecting children amid global conflicts.
Al-Nashif noted that the attacks were particularly concentrated in Sudan, Ukraine, the Gaza Strip, Myanmar, and Ethiopia, where children remain among the most vulnerable victims.
“In 2024, armed conflict directly affected nearly one in six children globally—about 470 million children,” she said. “Years of lost education, trauma, and lasting mental scars shape societies for generations. Long after the fighting subsides, children continue to face deadly risks.”
She highlighted Gaza as having the world’s highest number of child amputees per capita, warning that the impact of war goes far beyond immediate violence.
In Lebanon, government figures show that more than 450,000 people were displaced in less than a week, with at least 394 fatalities, including 83 children, during the 2024 conflict with Israel.
Al-Nashif also stressed the disproportionate risks for displaced children, who are more likely to die from disease linked to unsafe water and sanitation than from direct violence.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, a 2025 cholera outbreak killed 340 children, underscoring the long-term consequences of conflict.
She called on states to uphold their international obligations to protect children, insisting that protecting children is “both a legal obligation and a humanitarian moral imperative.”
Also speaking at the council, Vanessa Frazier, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, warned that violence against children continued at extreme levels in 2025.
She urged mainstreaming child protection across peace, security, humanitarian, human rights, and development efforts, emphasizing that children should actively participate in shaping policies designed to safeguard them.
Frazier highlighted her office’s global campaign, “Prove It Matters,” aimed at amplifying children’s voices in conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
The UN report underscores the urgent need for coordinated international action to protect children and ensure their safety in conflict zones worldwide.
Portugal officially inaugurated its new president, Antonio Jose Seguro, on Monday, pledging to bring stability to a nation shaken by political uncertainty and natural disasters.
Seguro, the centre-left candidate, won last month’s presidential run-off against far-right rival Andre Ventura, following weeks of catastrophic storms that killed at least seven people and caused approximately €4 billion ($4.6 billion) in damage.
Speaking at his swearing-in ceremony in Lisbon’s parliament, Seguro emphasized cooperation with the minority right-wing government and vowed to end the country’s “electoral frenzy.”
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“I will do everything I can to put an end to this electoral frenzy,” he said, pointing to the inability of previous governments to complete their terms.
Amid global crises, including conflicts in the Middle East and a more isolationist US approach under President Donald Trump, Seguro stressed the importance of multilateralism.
“The force of law has been replaced by the power of the strongest,” he remarked.
Seguro succeeds Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a conservative who leaves office at 77 after serving two five-year terms.
While the Portuguese presidency is largely ceremonial, Seguro’s leadership signals a commitment to political stability and international engagement.
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