Former Minister of Sports Solomon Dalung has alleged that members of a National Assembly committee demanded a ₦200 million bribe during his first budget defence as a minister.
Speaking on Channels Television on Friday, July 3, 2026, while discussing institutional corruption in the wake of the alleged fake agency scandal involving the Presidential International Peaceful Future Council (PIPFC), Dalung recounted his experience.
“When I went to defend my first budget at the National Assembly, after presenting a summary of my budget, I was asked to raise ₦200 million. I told the committee that, looking at the budget line items, I didn’t see ‘bribe’ listed as one of them, so I didn’t know where I would get ₦200 million to give them,” he said.
Dalung claimed the committee subsequently told him, “Okay, Mr. Minister, you’re excused, we’ll take it up with the permanent secretary,” adding that he was thereafter excluded from detailed budget sessions and only invited to present summaries.
He argued that such practices reflect entrenched corruption in the budgeting process and warned that illicit financial demands undermine accountability and enable institutional fraud.
