The anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has been tasked by the pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) to look into the mysterious fire that broke out this morning at the Federation’s Head of Service’s offices. The Rights group also challenged the EFCC and ICPC to look into the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to find out where the trillions of Naira intended for capital components of Federal ministries over the past two years.
“Refusal to fund capital budgets by this federal administration is not just a new kind of sophisticated economic and financial crimes but constitutes a crime against humanity given that hundreds of impoverished Nigerians have been left to die from treatable diseases like malaria due to lack of medication at primary health care centers run by the federal ministry of health, which received only N36 million out of the over N230 billion approved for capital budget in 2025,” said Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the National Assembly.
“Why are there fires all the time in strategic ministries and government agencies since 2015 till date and unfortunately there has been no determination of the causes of such mysterious fires in places like the Corporate Affairs Commission and offices of the Accountant General of the Federation which occurred during the Muhammadu Buhari’s highly corrupt federal administration?” was another question raised in response to the frequent fire outbreaks in government offices, particularly in the finance departments of such government institutions, which HURIWA attributes to sabotage by politicians and government officials? There have been suspicious fires in key offices since Tinubu’s administration took office, particularly those that hold procurement-related papers. The Federation’s Head of Service is now in charge. Next, which office?
HURIWA also chastised the EFCC and the ICPC for keeping quiet about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s startling inability to finance capital projects since taking office. In the same way that HURIWA classified the inability to cashback capital components of budgets as massive economic crimes, we are informed every year that appropriations bills are passed into law and the government borrows money from various sources to fund the budgets.
“The public is frequently inundated with announcements from Nigerian Customs and numerous other heavily revenue-generating agencies that they have met or exceeded annual targets that amount to trillions of Naira. Loans from the federal government are used to finance the budget. Why, therefore, are the capital components of the budgets not being implemented? This constitutes a serious financial crime, but the EFCC acts as though it is unrelated to them. These heists have also been made public by the National Assembly, yet the EFCC and ICPC act like President Tinubu’s “boys scouts” or “boys brigade.”
HURIWA recalled that on February 25, 2026, Mr. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, a member of the Federal House of Representatives representing the Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency and a prominent member of the Aids and Loans Committee, confronted Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance, regarding the mysterious disappearance of capital project funds in spite of trillions of naira in loans and record-breaking revenues.
What started off as a standard budget defense swiftly turned into a high-stakes grilling, according to observers, after Representative Ikwechegh disclosed a troubling pattern:
In order to finance 30% of the 2025 capital budget, Hon. Ikwechegh disclosed that N1.15 trillion had been raised and explicitly approved by the National Assembly.
Hon. Ikwechegh went on to say that several loans had been obtained, including $1.2 billion for digital infrastructure, $500 million for economic stimulus, $500 million for MSMEs (approved December 2025), $500 million for economic governance and energy transition from the African Development Bank (approved November 2025), and a recent executive request for $21 million, 15 billion Yen, and 4 billion Euros.
Hon. Ikwechegh questioned why capital projects throughout Nigeria continue to receive no funding in spite of this flood of borrowed funds and the excellent income performance of organizations like FIRS, Customs, and others.
Visibly frustrated, Hon. Ikwechegh carefully went over the numbers with the Minister, asking, “With all these funds put together, I want you to enlighten us on why the 2024 budget is yet to be fully implemented and why the 2025 budget has only been funded 34%—most of which is recurrent expenditure.”
Hon. Ikwechegh urged the minister to explain why there are still no capital projects.
When questioned, Minister Wale Edun claimed Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Minister of State for Finance, was in charge of payments.
Committee members were enraged by this diversion and questioned, “If the substantive Minister of Finance cannot account for ₦1.15 trillion approved for capital projects, who can?”
Lawmakers demanded answers by yelling at the committee that was in session. A few demanded the resignation of the ministers. The committee was forced to postpone the meeting to Thursday, February 26th, calling on the Minister of State to provide the country the clarification it needs.
“Development stops when capital project funding is at zero,” Hon. Ikwechegh told the media following the committee meeting. Nigerians suffer when progress is halted.
Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Minister of State for Finance, was asked to explain the missing ₦1.15 trillion during the resumed hearing on Thursday. Uzoka-Anite affirmed that ₦1.15 trillion had been approved for capital projects. She did, however, disclose that some ministries had not complied with certain “pre-disbursement conditions” and that disbursement protocols necessitate numerous sign-offs.
Although the funds are available, she said that they cannot be disbursed until the project documentation is finished.
Armed with the Health Minister’s prior evidence that he only received ₦38 million of his ₦286 billion allotment, committee members asked to know why certain ministries were given the runaround while others weren’t, if protocols were the problem.
“Mr. Chairman, can the minister tell this committee which specific ministry met all conditions and still did not receive funding?” Hon. Ikwechegh asked as he stood up once more. Why was ₦1.15 trillion allowed when the government knew that conditions weren’t met if none existed?
There was not a single example that the minister could give. Next, Hon. Ikwechegh asked, “If capital funds were approved, where are they?”
Who is at fault if they were stolen?
Who will be prosecuted if this is illegal?
The committee was reminded by Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh that it is not bad administration if funds are authorized but never arrive at their intended location. It’s a crime.
President Tinubu invited Hon. Ikwechegh to Aso Rock for a private meeting on February 27, 2026.
Following his meeting with the president, Hon. Ikwechegh declared his desire to join the APC and quit from his party, APGA.
We pray for Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh.
Therefore, in order to track down the precise location of the capital components of budgets, HURIWA has urged the two anti-corruption agencies, the EFCC and ICPC, to awaken from government-controlled inactivity and operational slumber and conduct investigations and detain officials of the pertinent government agencies.
Through National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, the Rights group denounced the federal government for depriving strategic ministries like Health, Education, Water Resources, Agricultural Resources, Women and Children Ministry, Humanitarian Affairs, and poverty reduction agencies of essential funding for their effective and efficient services of the welfare and well-being of Nigeria’s good people. “While Tinubu travels the world and bravely attends conferences intended for high school students, his government deprives public hospitals of the money they need to purchase necessities like medication to treat impoverished citizens.”
In particular, regarding the fire at the Head of Service office, HURIWA ended by noting that Section C of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation building was affected by the fire that started at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja on Monday morning. When the incident was first discovered at 8:20 a.m., significant smoke was rising from the building, which prompted emergency reaction and worker evacuation. Authorities have roped off the area and diverted traffic close to the Federal Court of Appeal as firefighters are on the site. There have been no recorded injuries, and the fire’s origin is still a mystery.
