Public affairs analyst Jide Ojo has criticized the federal government’s plan to allocate over 8 billion naira for church and mosque renovation projects in the 2026 budget, describing the funds as a “slush fund” that should never have been included in national spending plans.
According to official YouTube channel of Arise News on Thursday, July 23, 2026, Ojo made the remarks during an interview on News Day, where he also raised concerns about additional allocations for the renovation of traditional rulers’ palaces.
The discussion followed comments from Africa Democratic Congress presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, who condemned the budget line and demanded that the presidency publish the names of every beneficiary institution along with the legal basis for the allocations.
Of the 8.05 billion naira in question, church projects are billed to receive about 1.9 billion naira, while mosque projects are set to receive 6.1 billion naira.
Ojo said he could not fully make sense of Atiku’s position beyond its call for transparency, adding, “I am of the opinion that it’s a slush fund and it should not have found its way into our budget in the first place.”
He referenced a newspaper report citing a much larger figure of 30.15 billion naira, which included funds for renovating traditional rulers’ palaces placed under ministries with no constitutional mandate for such projects.
“Imagine in a ministry of agriculture, you are putting money for renovation of mosque”.
“This is very appalling to say the least and should be discontinued” he said, calling the arrangement “appalling to say the least.”
Ojo credited civil society groups, particularly an organization he identified as Tracker, for exposing the hidden allocations.
“It’s a long practice. It’s been from time immemorial,” he said, noting that similar patterns exist across federal, state, and local governments, including funding for Ramadan feeding programs.
Asked whether the budget’s religious allocation figures might suggest favoritism toward Islam given the current Muslim Muslim leadership ticket, Ojo agreed.
“I agree with you 100% because it will seem like the people of Islamic faith are having a better deal under this government,” he said, though he maintained that neither religion should receive state funding for worship centers.
He pointed to Nigeria’s history of Muslim Muslim and Christian Christian tickets dating back to 1979 and 1993 as evidence that religious pairing alone should not be controversial.
Ojo insisted that both religious and traditional institutions should rely on private fundraising rather than state resources, adding, “That kind of funds should be used to upgrade our health facilities, to upgrade our schools, and to provide roads and infrastructure.” He called for the practice to end starting with the 2027 budget cycle…See_More
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