Former Vice-President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has described disbursements from the Federal Account Allocation Committee to the three tiers of government as an “illusion,” arguing that rising nominal allocations have failed to translate into better living standards for Nigerians.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the growth in FAAC allocations must be weighed against the depreciation of the naira, high inflation, declining purchasing power and mounting government debt.

Citing figures from Agora Policy, Atiku noted that FAAC disbursements rose from N4.43 trillion in the first half of 2021 to N18.72 trillion in the corresponding period of 2026, representing an increase of about 322 per cent.

The figures showed that disbursements climbed from N5.53 trillion in H1 2022 to N6.76 trillion in H1 2023, N13.46 trillion in H1 2024, N17.43 trillion in H1 2025, and N18.72 trillion in H1 2026.

However, Atiku warned that the rise in nominal naira allocations should not be mistaken for an improvement in the country’s economic fortunes.

“The arithmetic is brutal. In 2019, FAAC distribution was approximately N7.85 trillion, worth about $25.6 billion at the prevailing exchange rate.

“By 2025, FAAC had risen on paper to approximately N21.9 trillion, yet its dollar value had fallen to roughly $14.6 billion.

“So while government parades almost three times as many naira, the underlying dollar value is more than 40 per cent lower,” he said.

Atiku described the development as “money illusion,” arguing that naira depreciation and inflation had eroded the real value of increased government allocations.

“That is not an economic miracle. That is money illusion,” he said.

“You cannot batter the currency, allow inflation to ravage purchasing power and then wave bigger naira figures before Nigerians as evidence that the country has become richer. Bigger numbers do not cancel smaller value.”

The ADC presidential candidate said the impact was visible in the purchasing power of Nigerian workers, pointing to the minimum wage as an example.

He said the N30,000 minimum wage was worth about $83 in 2019 and approximately $65 by May 2023, while the current N70,000 minimum wage was worth about $53 at an exchange rate of N1,320 to the dollar.

“Think about that: the number written on the worker’s payslip has risen from N30,000 to N70,000, but its dollar value has fallen from about $83 to about $53,” Atiku said.

“That is Tinubu’s money illusion in its simplest form. The figure in your hand is bigger, but the value in your pocket is smaller.”

He questioned what impact the increased FAAC allocations had had on the welfare of Nigerians, asking why the reported rise in disbursements had not translated into lower food and transport costs, improved electricity supply, healthcare, housing and employment.

“If FAAC is truly booming, then where is the boom?” he asked.

“Where is it in the price of food? Where is it in transport? Where is it in electricity, healthcare, housing and jobs? Where is it in the purchasing power of salaries?”

Atiku also questioned why states remain heavily indebted despite what he described as unprecedented FAAC allocations.

He called for greater scrutiny of government expenditure, including tax concessions, import waivers, revenue exemptions, duplicated projects and abandoned projects.

“You cannot defend concessions for the powerful, tolerate waste within government and then suddenly become an apostle of fiscal discipline when ordinary Nigerians ask for relief from unbearable living costs,” he said.

“Fiscal responsibility that operates only against the poor is not reform. It is cruelty dressed up in economic grammar.”

According to the former vice-president, Nigerians experience the economy through the prices of food, transport, school fees, medicines and other necessities, rather than through government statistics and FAAC communiqués.

“Nigerians do not eat FAAC figures. They do not pay school fees with percentages. They do not buy medicine with press conferences, and they do not enter buses with government charts,” he said.

“They live in the real economy, and the real economy is measured by what their money can buy.”

Atiku said higher FAAC allocations should not automatically be equated with prosperity when purchasing power remains weak and government liabilities continue to rise.