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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged the Director General of President Bola Tinubu Presidential Campaign, Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, to explain to Nigerians what they have gained from the N15.8 trillion reportedly saved from the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.
The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday, said Yari’s explanation was necessary as he is saddled with convincing Nigerians to renew President Tinubu’s tenure in 2027.
The opposition party stated that it was “disgraceful” that the only thing that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled Federal Government has to show for trillions of Naira, reportedly saved from the fuel subsidy removal, is payment of workers’ salaries.
It stated that “if the message of the president’s re-election campaign is that Nigerians must accept today’s hardship as permanent and anyone promising relief is a liar, then Nigerians must be seriously concerned.
“According to the figures attributed to the Minister of Finance, petrol subsidy removal and foreign-exchange reforms generated about N15.8 trillion in additional resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025. Of this, about N5.4 trillion went to the Federal Government, N5.4 trillion to states and N3.9 trillion to local governments.
“States alone reportedly received N47.25 trillion in FAAC allocations between 2023 and 2025, rising from N10.09 trillion in 2023 to N15.26 trillion in 2024 and N21.90 trillion in 2025. Monthly FAAC distributions have since crossed N2 trillion, compared with less than N1 trillion around the period before subsidy removal. Yet, while government revenues soared, Nigerians became poorer.
“Petrol moved from about N185 per litre in May 2023 to over N1,300 in many places by August 2025, while food inflation crossed 40 percent at some points during the period. Transport costs surged and the promised CNG mass-transit alternative has yet to reach Nigerians at the scale required.”
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The ADC, while noting that “the contradiction is impossible to ignore,” stated that the government is counting trillions while Nigerian families are counting the meals they can afford. “If governments are receiving substantially more money, why are Nigerians getting substantially less food to eat?
“Before asking Nigerians for four more years, Senator Yari and the APC must answer one question: after N15.8 trillion in additional resources, record FAAC allocations and three years of unprecedented sacrifice, are Nigerians better off?”
The opposition party stated that the situation was troubling as the government’s borrowing had increased despite increased revenues, noting that “about 20 states reportedly borrowed N458 billion in 2025 despite the surge in FAAC receipts.
“After N47.25 trillion to states in three years, Nigerians have a right to ask: where are the results? If states received an additional N5.4 trillion from the reforms, let the government publish the projects. Show Nigerians the schools, hospitals, roads and mass-transit systems that their sacrifice paid for.
“Meanwhile, budgets remain unimplemented, local contractors remain unpaid, major public roads remain terrible and Nigeria becomes one of the most dangerous places to live in, and home to the highest number of poor people on earth. The big lie is in the government telling Nigerians that its reforms are working while driving the country towards certain destruction.”
Furthermore, the ADC challenged the APC Presidential Campaign Council to also explain why it took the government more than three years, after the removal of fuel subsidy, and a few months to elections to realise the need to make plans for reducing the cost of transportation.
“If Senator Yari said subsidy can never return, then he must tell Nigerians what the president’s campaign is offering instead. What is the plan to dramatically reduce petrol prices and bring down food and transportation costs before 2027? ‘Endure’ is not an economic policy.
“The 2027 election will not be about who shouted ‘liar’ the loudest. It will be about who can put food on Nigerians’ tables, create jobs, provide security and reduce the cost of living. Nigerians have sacrificed enough. They need a break,” the party stated.
