Former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has launched a fierce critique against President Bola Tinubu over the allocation of ₦22.15 billion aimed at building and renovating 106 traditional rulers’ palaces in the 2026 budget.
In a statement made available to Reports through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president described the expenditure as an outright constitutional aberration, insisting that federal funds cannot lawfully be used to assume responsibilities that the Constitution assigns elsewhere.
Atiku pointed out that the 1999 Constitution contains no provision establishing, funding, or assigning executive control over traditional institutions to the Federal Government. The only explicit reference to royal stools in the supreme law is found in the Third Schedule, Part II, which merely allows state governments to establish a Council of Chiefs to advise governors on chieftaincy and customary matters. Beyond that advisory mandate, the creation, funding, and general management of traditional institutions rest strictly with state and local governments.
Questioning the legal basis of the allocation, Atiku noted that President Tinubu swore an oath to preserve and defend the Constitution, not to rewrite or bypass it through an Appropriation Act. He challenged the administration to identify the specific constitutional provisions empowering the central government to divert ₦22.15 billion from the Federation Account for palace projects.
Beyond the legal debate, the opposition politician highlighted serious integrity concerns regarding how the funds were captured in the budget. He warned that the secrecy surrounding the allocation—specifically the refusal to name the 106 palaces, their exact locations, or the host communities—creates a massive loophole for official corruption. This lack of transparency, he argued, raises genuine suspicion that the projects might exist only on paper, potentially leaving the royal fathers as unwitting shields for financial mismanagement.
While emphasizing that traditional rulers deserve immense honor and dignity, Atiku cautioned the administration against using revered royal stools to legitimize questionable spending. He urged the Presidency, the Budget Office, and all handling agencies to clear the air by publishing a comprehensive list of the affected palaces, the funds earmarked for each site, the legal justification for the spending, and the procurement process for awarding the contracts.
Wrapping up his stance, Atiku reminded the administration that a national budget is a moral and legal contract with the public. He asserted that no government can legitimately claim to uphold the rule of law while using the national treasury to finance projects outside its constitutional jurisdiction.
