Dalung Raises Alarm Over N6.44bn 2026 World Cup Budget, Despite Elimination

By Solomon Dalung Esq

Did you know that ₦6.44 billion was reportedly provided in Nigeria’s 2026 budget for a “Special Presidential Support Group for the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers” even though Nigeria had already been eliminated from the qualifiers months earlier?

Yes, and you too can check!

As someone who had the privilege of serving as Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sports, I understand how World Cup qualification campaigns are planned, funded, and executed. They follow a definite timetable. Once the qualification campaign is over, the purpose for which those funds were meant to serve also comes to an end.

That is why this budgetary provision raises serious questions.

If the allocation was merely a budgeting error, Nigerians deserve an explanation. If it was meant for another purpose, the government should say so. But if it was deliberately retained after the qualification campaign had ended, then those responsible must account for it.

This is not about politics. It is about accountability.

I had the honour of serving as Minister when Nigeria qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the last World Cup our country has attended since I left office. I know from experience that every stage of the qualification process comes with defined activities, timelines, and budgetary responsibilities. There is no justification for appropriating billions for a qualification exercise that had already concluded.

No one should be presumed guilty without evidence. However, when public funds are involved and legitimate questions arise, silence is never an acceptable answer. The appropriate response is transparency.

The Nigerian people deserve to know why ₦6.44 billion found its way into the 2026 budget for a World Cup qualification campaign that had already ended. That is a fair question, and it deserves a credible answer.

• Solomon Dalung Esq, Abuja Network News