Citizen (Dr.) Bolaji O. Akinyemi, Apostle, Nation Builder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Project Victory Call Initiative (PVC-Naija), has petitioned the National Assembly over what he describes as an alarming fiscal scandal involving the reported expenditure of ₦17.5 trillion by NNPC Ltd. on pipeline protection, energy-security costs and under-recovery within a single year.
The petition, titled “Public Petition and Citizens’ Advisory Note on Re-Prioritising the 2026 Federal Budget Around SEA: Security, Education & Agriculture,” was submitted through Hon. Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee, and Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations. It is addressed to the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and all members of the National Assembly.
Akinyemi, in the document dated December 4, 2025, describes himself as “a concerned citizen and stakeholder in nation-building” and warns that the matter “cannot wait.”
He draws attention to what he calls a “disturbing fiscal revelation,” noting that NNPC Ltd.’s audited financial statements reportedly show that Nigeria spent ₦17.5 trillion on pipeline protection and related energy-security costs in just 12 months. He compares this with the nation’s entire security budget for the same period, which stood at ₦3.25 trillion.
According to him, “Nigeria spent more than five times its national security budget on so-called pipeline security — yet insecurity worsened nationwide.”
Akinyemi argues that the expenditure represents “not only a fiscal anomaly but a moral crisis,” especially at a time when citizens are grappling with rising petrol prices, widespread insecurity, displacement and underfunded security agencies.
He is calling for an urgent parliamentary investigation and forensic audit into the spending, as well as a redesign of the 2026 federal budget to prioritise Security, Education and Agriculture (SEA). He insists that “a budget is not pro-people unless it significantly prioritises Security, Education and Agriculture.”
Akinyemi warns that Nigeria is drifting toward deeper hunger, illiteracy and insecurity. He cites projections by the World Food Programme that as many as 35 million Nigerians could face hunger in 2026, while the country also leads globally with 20.2 million out-of-school children. Agriculture, which employs over 70 percent of the population, continues to receive between 2–4 percent of federal budgets annually.
“If we continue budgeting this way, we will continue reproducing insecurity, ignorance and hunger,” he states.
The petition reviews the Buhari and Tinubu administrations, arguing that despite huge allocations to security under Buhari, “terror, banditry and kidnappings worsened.” Education remained underfunded, resulting in “decaying schools, teacher fatigue, recurring strikes and rising out-of-school children,” while agriculture consistently fell below the AU Maputo target of 10 percent.
Commenting on the Tinubu years, Akinyemi acknowledges ongoing macroeconomic reforms but insists they are not matched with sufficient investments in SEA sectors. He notes that despite ₦6.57 trillion allocated to security in the 2025 budget, the President still declared a security emergency in November — an indication, he says, of “deep structural gaps in strategy, intelligence and welfare.”
He also observes that education spending remains around 6–7 percent, “far below global benchmarks,” while agriculture receives less than 5 percent despite rising food insecurity.
Akinyemi proposes what he calls a “People’s Development Budget,” urging the National Assembly to direct investments into intelligence-driven security, compulsory free basic education, vocational training, youth-linked agriculture programmes, and recapitalisation of key agricultural institutions.
He suggests financing these priorities through subsidy savings, curbing wasteful recurrent expenditure and tying federal allocations to state-level performance in SEA sectors.
In his appeal to lawmakers, he asks the National Assembly to “investigate and freeze the opaque ₦17.5 trillion pipeline-related expenditures,” adopt SEA benchmarks for the 2026 budget, amend existing laws such as the NYSC and UBE Act, and conduct quarterly oversight hearings focused on SEA outcomes.
Akinyemi ends with a cautionary note: “If Nigerians are not safer, not learning, and not feeding themselves, then the budget — no matter how elegant — has failed.”
He urges lawmakers to ensure that 2026 becomes the year Nigeria “stops funding scarcity and scandals and starts funding security, classrooms and farms.”
