The Federal Government’s reported allocation of N8.05 billion for the construction and renovation of churches and mosques in the 2026 budget has generated widespread debate, with critics questioning the spending at a time of economic hardship and insecurity.
While some observers described the allocation as a misplaced priority, others argued that it could be politically motivated ahead of the 2027 general elections. Concerns have also been raised over the exclusion of adherents of other faiths and the lack of transparency surrounding the proposed projects.
Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was among the first to criticise the allocation.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku argued that allocating billions of naira to religious projects while millions of Nigerians struggle with poverty was difficult to justify.
Citing an analysis by public accountability organisation Tracka, he said about N1.91 billion was allocated to church related projects, while N6.14 billion was earmarked for mosque related projects.
According to Atiku, religion should not become a shield for opaque budgeting or questionable public spending.
“Under the Nigerian law, religious bodies generally operate as Incorporated Trustees with distinct legal identities. If public funds are appropriated for projects involving such bodies, Nigerians have a right to know exactly which churches, which mosques and in which communities those projects will be executed.
“Unlike roads, schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure that are ordinarily identified by location and beneficiary, these allocations reportedly fail to identify many of the specific beneficiary churches and mosques.
“While some line items mention broad locations, the budget does not sufficiently disclose the identities of many beneficiary worship centres, making independent verification difficult and raising legitimate concerns about transparency and accountability.
“Though we tread with profound meticulousness in matters that relate to the Almighty, so as not to attract spiritual jabs from the overly sensitive faithful, it is a desecration of faith to commit public funds in God’s name, while withholding the information that would enable citizens to verify where their money is going.
“The government cannot invoke the sanctity of religion to evade the standards of openness demanded in the management of public resources,” he stated.
He challenged the Federal Government to publish the names of all beneficiary institutions, project locations, implementing agencies and the legal basis for the allocations.
“The Tinubu administration has crossed the moral red line by dragging the altar and the minbar into the marketplace of opaque budgeting. If these appropriations are genuine, the Presidency should immediately publish the names of every beneficiary institution, every project location, every implementing agency and the legal basis for the allocations.
“Anything less, will reinforce the growing perception that religion is being exploited as a convenient cover for diverting public resources,” he stated.
Atiku also urged the government to avoid involving religious leaders in what he described as budget racketeering.
“The Tinubu administration must resist the dangerous temptation to drag our priests, pastors, imams and other religious leaders into its budgeting racket.
“The altar and the minbar are sacred spaces for moral instruction and spiritual guidance, not convenient hiding places for questionable appropriations.
“The government must not seek to stain the integrity of our religious institutions or infect men and women of faith with the leprous fingers of fiscal filth. If there are genuine projects deserving public support, let them be openly identified, lawfully appropriated and transparently executed.
“The government must keep its leprous fingers of fiscal filth away from the altar and the minbar.
“God is not a laundering machine for public funds. The Tinubu administration has no moral or legal licence to hide behind the altar, the minbar or the sacred robes of our priests and imams to mask questionable appropriations.
“If these projects are genuine, publish the names of every beneficiary institution, disclose every project location and execute every project in full public view.”
Also reacting, Project Lead of the Calabar and Gulf of Guinea Municipal and Trade Centre, David Etim, described the allocation as a misplaced priority.
He argued that public resources should be directed toward schools, hospitals and industries rather than religious projects, stressing that investment in education and healthcare would have a greater impact on citizens.
“We have 140 million Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty. But God is not going to come down from heaven. God is going to use human beings to make the life of those other human beings better.
“If we are not impacting our fellow human beings, making the life of the least Nigerian to be better than what it is, or what it was yesterday and with progressively better on a daily basis, thereby translating to lifting people out of poverty, then really and truly, what God are we serving?
“Because man is God to man. God enables me to have capacity so that I can help the next guy behind me. And the government is at the top of that pyramid.
“Now, in building that church, if the government was to choose between building that church and building a school or a hospital, putting that N8.5 billion into a hospital and funding that hospital well, or into a school and funding that school well, and impacting a hundred thousand lives or a million lives or two million lives, I personally think that God will appreciate that more than building a church or a mosque, for that matter.
“So, it has happened and it has happened, but in my opinion, it shouldn’t have happened at all.”
The Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics, AERE, took a different position, arguing that although the allocation deserved scrutiny, Nigeria’s growing fiscal imbalance posed a much bigger challenge.
The organisation’s chairman, Kelvin Oye, said the N8.05 billion allocation represents only 0.0118 percent of the proposed N68.32 trillion budget and would have little effect on the projected N31.45 trillion budget deficit even if removed.
According to the group, greater attention should be given to the government’s increasing reliance on borrowing, with about 46.1 percent of the 2026 budget expected to be financed through debt.
AERE also expressed concern over the N15.8 trillion allocated for debt servicing, noting that it accounts for about 23 percent of total expenditure and nearly 43 percent of projected government revenue.
The organisation questioned why religious projects appeared in the budgets of ministries without direct responsibility for such activities, including the Ministries of Agriculture, Labour and Marine and Blue Economy, arguing that the practice weakens transparency and accountability.
It called for stronger revenue generation, improved fiscal discipline and greater investment in infrastructure and economic development.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State, Chief Lanre Adebowale, alleged that the allocation was politically motivated.
“One thing that is clear is that this government is just dipping hands everywhere to grab money for the 2027 election. You remember the issue of the fake agency, and now it is the budget for churches and mosques.
“They think that Nigerians are fools. In a multi religious country, how can you single out only Christians and Muslims? What happens to other adherents, including the atheists?
“Are they no longer Nigerians or they don’t matter anymore? Besides, which churches and mosques are going to benefit from the money? These are the questions that are begging for answers.
“Secondly, they think that when they say they have earmarked N8.05 billion to renovate churches and mosques and possibly build new ones, Christians and Muslims would cast their votes for the APC.
“They have forgotten that what Christians and Muslims want in Nigeria today is security of their lives to even be able to worship at the available worship centres. Nigerians want safety of their lives and property.
“They also want food on their tables. They want jobs for their children and hospitals to attend to their sick ones. These are some of the things that Nigerian Christians and Muslims are earnestly yearning for at present, and not renovating or building new churches and mosques,” he said.
