THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is planning to spend N1.2 billion on generator fuel alone in its 2026 budget.
The proposed Federal Government’s budget documents revealed that the anti-graft agency set aside ₦1,200,749,186 specifically to power generators across its operations nationwide, in addition to ₦1,151,240,641 earmarked for electricity charges.
The figures showed the scale of public funds being committed to energy consumption at a time when ordinary Nigerians are being forced to ration power and fuel.
Recall that The ICIR reported that the State House housing President Bola Tinubu planned to spend over N16 billion on energy-related projects and maintenance, including N7 billion for a solar mini-grid and nearly N2 billion for diesel fuel in its 2026 proposed budget.
At the current NNPC petrol price of ₦839 per litre, the EFCC’s budget for generator fuel will purchase 1.43 million litres of petrol in one year.
Spread across the EFCC’s 14 zonal offices and its headquarters in Abuja, the budget implies that each location would consume roughly 95,000 litres annually just to power generators.
That translates to nearly 8,000 litres per month per office, or about 265 litres daily, a level that’s mathematically outrageous for the offices.
The scale of consumption is in contrast with the experience of many Nigerians who can no longer afford to run their small generators for more than a few hours.
While this budget allocation raises questions about accountability, the EFCC allocated another ₦1.15 billion for grid electricity. The combined electricity and generator fuel costs mean the commission plans to spend more than ₦2.35 billion in 2026 simply to keep its offices powered.
Another N1bn budgeted to fuel vehicle
In addition to this, the commission budgeted over a billion (N1,018,747,695) to fuel its motor vehicles.
This again was also on the heels of other controversial budget allocations, including over N1.5 billion for “welfare package,” and N722,000,069 for “refreshments and meals.”
The EFCC, tasked with investigating corruption and ensuring accountability in public finances, has its operations funded under the Presidency.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M