“In a fiery interview on Arise Television, El-Rufai alleged that President Tinubu has been unilaterally deducting ₦100 billion every month from the Federation Account — without appropriation, without consent, and without explanation”
Former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has just done what Nigeria’s so-called opposition and even most state governors have failed to do — speak up boldly and expose a disturbing constitutional abuse at the heart of Bola Tinubu’s presidency.
In a fiery interview on Arise Television, El-Rufai alleged that President Tinubu has been unilaterally deducting ₦100 billion every month from the Federation Account — without appropriation, without consent, and without explanation. This, he boldly declared, is “unconstitutional and amounts to an impeachable offence.”
Let us pause and fully grasp the weight of this revelation.
The Federation Account is not a private piggy bank. It is the collective financial pot of all Nigerians, to be shared equitably between the federal, state, and local governments. It is protected under Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution. Any monthly deduction from it must be lawful, transparent, and approved through proper channels — not by presidential fiat.
So where is the National Assembly in all of this?
This legislative arm, which ought to serve as the watchdog of democracy, has once again proven itself to be a glorified rubber stamp. No investigations, no resolutions, not even a whisper of concern over this monumental illegality. Instead, they’ve been busy debating trivial matters while the country’s treasury is, allegedly, being looted in plain sight.
This isn’t just about money. This is about the integrity of Nigeria’s democracy and the blatant erosion of the rule of law.
And the silence from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum is equally deafening. Why aren’t state governors — whose states are being robbed in these deductions — crying out? Have they been bullied, bribed, or simply cowed into submission?
If El-Rufai — a founding member of the APC, a former cabinet minister, and once one of Tinubu’s closest political allies — can raise this alarm publicly, then the matter is clearly beyond partisan politics. It is about constitutional order and national survival.
Nigeria is currently drowning in debt, inflation is galloping, and poverty is rising — yet ₦100 billion vanishes from our collective fund every month under suspicious circumstances?
This is no longer misgovernance. It is executive gangsterism.
And if this is not enough to trigger impeachment proceedings, then what is?
The National Assembly must rise from its slumber. Civil society must demand answers. The media must amplify this outrage. And the Nigerian people must not keep silent while democracy is being strangled under the guise of “renewed hope.”
President Bola Tinubu owes this nation an explanation — not silence, not spin, not propaganda. An honest, legal, constitutional explanation.
And if he cannot provide one, then the only remaining option is clear: IMPEACHMENT.
Noel Chiagorom
Columnist | Advocate for Accountability | Conscience of a Nation in Crisis
