The Media Office of African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the All Progressives Congress, APC, of failing to explain the reported N12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote, SWV, contained in the 2026 Appropriation Act, describing the ruling party’s reaction as evidence of a “guilty conscience”.

This was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by Atiku’s Strategic Media Associate, Olusola Sanni.

The statement was in response to comments by APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, who defended the Service-Wide Vote and dismissed Atiku’s criticism.

According to Atiku Media Office, the APC ignored what it described as legitimate concerns about the sharp increase in the Service-Wide Vote and instead resorted to personal attacks.

The Atiku Media Office questioned the justification for increasing the Service-Wide Vote from N638.34 billion in the 2024 budget to more than N12.8 trillion in the 2026 Appropriation Act, representing what it described as an increase of about 1,918 per cent within two years.

“It is remarkable that in his lengthy treatise, Mr. Morka failed to answer the central question: What emergency or unforeseen expenditure justifies increasing the Service-Wide Vote from ₦638.34 billion in 2024 to over ₦12.8 trillion in 2026?” the statement said.

While acknowledging that the Service-Wide Vote is a recognised budgetary provision, the Atiku camp argued that Nigerians are demanding explanations for what it described as the size, transparency and management of the allocation.

It maintained that if the allocation was justified, the Federal Government should explain why the provision had risen to an amount it claimed rivals the combined budgets of key sectors such as defence, education, healthcare and works.

The statement further alleged that several items captured under the allocation were either vaguely described or lacked sufficient details, raising concerns over accountability.

“Even more disturbing is the fact that substantial portions of this allocation are tied to projects that are either vaguely described or not described at all. A contingency fund without specificity, accountability or transparency ceases to be a contingency provision and becomes precisely what Nigerians fear — a slush fund waiting to be abused,” the statement added.

The media office also accused the APC of avoiding what it described as fundamental questions by resorting to insults instead of addressing the issues raised.

It further claimed that the Tinubu administration had previously faced public scrutiny over alleged duplicated budget provisions, religious project allocations and other controversial appropriations, arguing that concerns over the Service-Wide Vote were therefore justified.

The Atiku camp consequently called on the Federal Government to publish a detailed breakdown of the N12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote, including the projects, beneficiaries, implementing agencies and legal basis for each expenditure.

The Atiku Media Office maintained that full disclosure of the allocation remained necessary to assure Nigerians that public funds were being properly managed.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that nearly 2.7 billion people worldwide still cannot afford the minimum diet needed for good health, despite improvements in access to healthy diets in recent years.

Speaking in a video posted on X on Tuesday, the WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, noted that more than 200 million additional people were able to afford a healthy diet last year compared with 2021, but said the progress remains far from sufficient.

Mr Ghebreyesus said the burden is unevenly shared, with Africa disproportionately affected, as about two-thirds of the continent’s population cannot afford a healthy diet.

Africa bears heaviest burden

Mr Ghebreyesus said Africa remains the region most affected by the high cost of nutritious food, with about two-thirds of its population unable to afford a healthy diet.

He warned that the situation is even more difficult in some of the world’s most vulnerable settings, where conflict, displacement and climate change are driving unprecedented levels of acute malnutrition, particularly among children.

According to him, while the WHO is supporting countries to respond to the immediate nutrition crisis, governments must also address the underlying factors that make healthy diets inaccessible.

“We must also act upstream. We know what works,” he said.

Policy actions

Mr Ghebreyesus outlined several measures that governments can adopt to improve access to healthy diets.

These include promoting breastfeeding, taxing unhealthy foods and drinks while subsidising healthier options, protecting children from the marketing of unhealthy industrially produced foods and beverages, introducing clear front-of-pack nutrition labelling to help consumers make healthier choices, reformulating food products to reduce salt, sugar and trans fats, and strengthening primary healthcare systems to prevent, detect and manage all forms of malnutrition.

He said implementing these interventions would make healthy diets more available, affordable and accessible to everyone.

“Healthy diets should not be a luxury. They are the foundation of health, and they should be within everyone’s reach,” he said.

Nigeria’s context

The WHO warning reflects Nigeria’s growing struggle with the affordability of nutritious foods, as rising food prices—where common protein sources often cost thousands of ₦ per unit—continue to limit access to balanced diets for many households.

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A balanced diet typically includes carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables, providing the nutrients needed for healthy growth, development and disease prevention. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), although food inflation has slowed in recent months, many nutrient-rich foods, including vegetables, fruits, eggs, fish and other protein sources, remain beyond the reach of low-income families.

The challenge has contributed to Nigeria’s persistent malnutrition burden. Findings from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) 2023–24 show that about 40 per cent of children under five are stunted, while eight per cent are wasted, highlighting the continued impact of poor nutrition on child health.

The affordability crisis is further compounded by insecurity in several parts of Nigeria, where conflict continues to disrupt food production, livelihoods and access to healthcare. PREMIUM TIMES has reported extensively on how armed conflict and displacement, particularly in the North-east, have worsened hunger and malnutrition by forcing families from their homes, limiting access to farmland and disrupting humanitarian assistance in affected communities.