FG’s Penchant for Rejecting Global Bodies’ Reports

The federal government’s obsession for rejecting the reports of international organisations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and, very lately, UNICEF, only when such reports do not align with its expectations, is perceived as a ploy to shield Nigeria’s economic and social realities from global scrutiny, Ejiofor Alike writes 

By rejecting the economic and social reports from credible international organisations that do not favour its expectations, the federal government is unwittingly isolating Nigeria’s economic and social realities from the global economic and social dynamics.

The agents of the federal government have gained notoriety for rejecting unfavourable reports of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and, very lately, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on the economic and social developments in the country.

Reports released by the Amnesty International (AI) and other rights groups on extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, forced disappearance of Nigerians and other human rights violations are also being debunked and rejected by the Nigerian security agencies whose human rights records are one of the worst.

Local agencies have not been spared as the federal government had repeatedly attempted to discredit the reports of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that were not favourable to the government.

Ironically, the government and its agents celebrate the reports of these same organisations when they align with the expectations of the ruling class.

It is the right of every sovereign nation to reject international organisations and their reports in their entirety, and pull out from these bodies.  

However, many believe that subscribing to these international bodies and rejecting their favourable reports amount to outright mischief designed to shield Nigeria’s real economic and social conditions from global scrutiny.

For instance, UNICEF had recently decried the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, saying it had hit 18.3 million.

The global education agency stressed that this alarming figure positioned Nigeria as the country with the highest number of out-of-school children globally. 

During a two-day Regional Stakeholders Engagement Meeting on Out-of-School Children in Bauchi, Gombe, and Adamawa states, which was held in Gombe, the Chief of Bauchi Field Office of UNICEF, Dr. Tushar Rane, further highlighted that only 63 per cent of primary school-age children regularly attended school.

He said only 84 per cent of children transitioned to junior secondary education after completing primary school. 

He attributed this trend to inadequate evidence-based policies, limited budget allocation, teacher and classroom shortages, poor infrastructure, cultural norms, health and safety concerns, and child labour

“Unfortunately, this positions Nigeria with the challenge of having the largest number of out-of-school children globally,” Rane stated. 

With this assessment, education stakeholders had expected the agents of the federal government to work collaboratively with the global body to close this education gap.

But the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, chose to dissipate energy in debunking the report.

Speaking on a TV programme, the minister argued that Nigeria’s number of out-of-school children was about 8million, which was lower than the 15–18 million estimate often cited by UNICEF.

But in what was perceived as a contradictory remark, the minister explained that the federal government was still conducting a nationwide mapping exercise to identify the actual number of out-of-school children.

The question on the lips of education stakeholders is: If the mapping is still ongoing, how did Alausa arrive at his own figure?

In July 2025, the Presidency had also faulted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over what it described as a “very fatalistic” assessment of Nigeria’s economic reforms, inflation, and poverty levels.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, criticised the IMF’s article titled “How Nigeria Can Unleash Its Economic Potential,” which raised concerns over the country’s persistently high inflation rate and slow impact of reforms.

In April 2022, the federal government, through the Debt Management Office (DMO), had also faulted the IMF over its position on the nation’s debt servicing obligations.

IMF had stated in its 2021 Article IV, that the Nigerian government could spend as much as 92.6 per cent of its revenue on debt servicing this year.

The IMF’s position was first voiced out by Agusto and Co. rating agency.

Reacting, the DMO acknowledged that Nigeria’s debt and debt service levels may have grown over the years but faulted the reports of the two bodies, insisting that the nation’s debt remained sustainable as revenue efforts were already yielding fruits.

The same federal government had in April 2018 expressed satisfaction over the IMF’s economic outlook on Nigeria.

The then Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma had stated that from the various presentations made by the leadership of the IMF/World Bank, the overall global outlook for 2018 and 2019 was very positive.

Earlier in April 2026, the federal government had also dismissed the World Bank reports alleging hidden spending and diversion of federation revenue.

Nigeria’s fiscal framework had faced renewed local and international scrutiny after the World Bank revealed that over N34.53 trillion was deducted from federation revenue between 2023 and 2025 before funds were shared across the three tiers of government.

 In its latest Nigeria Development Update, the global lender said about 41 per cent of that N84 trillion realised as revenue within the period never reached the Federation Account due to pre-distribution deductions, commonly referred to as “first-line charges.”

 Key agencies, including Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Nigeria Revenue Service, were identified as major beneficiaries of these deductions, as their funding was tied to fixed percentages of gross revenue.

But in a statement signed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, the federal government faulted the interpretation of these reports.

What many described as scandalous and unacceptable attempts had also been made by the federal government to discredit the reports of the NBS.

The then Senior Special Assistant to the late President Muhammadu Buhari on Public Affairs, Ajuri Ngelale, who later became President Bola Tinubu’s spokesman, had declared on national TV in February 2022 that the NBS gave out wrong data for public consumption.

In 2018, the Special Assistant to Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, and the then Statistician-General of the Federation, Yemi Kale, had disagreed with the methods of tracking job creation and unemployment numbers in Nigeria. 

Shehu had claimed that Yemi Kale told the Federal Executive Council that the NBS concentrated on white-collar jobs when preparing its jobs report.

Shehu said: “So, I think the data collected on the basis of which some of the judgment has been passed is misleading. The data has been unfair to this administration; they have ignored job creation in the area of agriculture. If you are talking about job losses, no, we have created at least 12m new jobs in the area of agriculture.”

If the World Bank, IMF, UNICEF, AI and NBS reports are only acceptable when they align with the expectations of the federal government, is there a deliberate agenda by the ruling class to shield Nigeria’s economic and social conditions from international scrutiny?