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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress ( ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded for a full account of the ₦11.2 trillion debt reportedly owed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) by the Federal Government.
Atiku, in a statement by the Director of Strategic Communication, ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Phrank Shaibu, said Nigerians deserve to know how much of the debt went to guarding pipelines, who received the money and what protection it bought.
The former Vice President noted that the
need for answers extends beyond NNPCL’s accounts to the relationship between government contractors and President Bola Tinubu’s re-election effort.
According to him, “A mother should not have to pray her child survives the journey to school while her government cannot plainly explain the billions it spends on security. Tinubu must answer to the people living with these choices.
“NNPC’s 2024 accounts recorded roughly ₦17.5 trillion across different claims on the Federation, including petrol under-recovery and other receivables linked to advances and asset protection. Its 2025 accounts now show approximately ₦11.2 trillion in other receivables from the Federation. Nigerians cannot tell from these totals what was spent on pipeline surveillance. What was paid? Who was paid? For what work? Where are the results?
“The scale of this imbalance is indefensible. In 2025, the Ministry of Defence received about ₦3.1 trillion, while NNPC recorded ₦11.2 trillion in other receivables from the Federation—more than three times the defence allocation. These figures belong to different accounting categories, but their contrast is stark: under Tinubu, sums tied to the oil sector dwarf the resources allocated to defend the country. That is a damning measure of this administration’s priorities.
“Think of the soldier sent to confront terrorists. Think of the parent waiting outside a school after hearing that bandits have struck. Think of the family unable to reach a loved one on the highway. They deserve more than one vast figure in NNPC’s accounts. Why can this government explain the need to protect a pipeline, but struggle to assure Nigerians that their own lives will be protected?”
Furthermore, the ADC candidate noted that ook at the company Tinubu keeps. Tantita holds a pipeline security contract while its founder sends campaign vehicles out to seek another term for the President. The Chagourys’ company holds the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway contract, awarded without an open public tender.
” Tinubu’s government says it used restricted bidding. Then show us the invitations. Show us the competing bids. Show us the evaluation. Show us the contract. Why must Nigerians drag every document out of a government spending their money?
“And what are Nigerians to make of footage showing the Minister of Works greeting a Chagoury as ‘my chairman’? A minister’s chairman should be the Nigerian people.
” Tinubu must disclose what these contractors have received from the government and whether they have given a naira, a vehicle or any other support to his re-election. Nigerians will not tighten their belts while the President’s associates collect contracts and the money behind his campaign remains hidden.”
Atiku stated that a government asking hungry families to make sacrifices must be willing to account for every naira it claims on the public purse.
“The roads are bad. The economy is bad. There is no light. There is no safety. Families are hungry. Yet Tinubu calls this progress. Nigerians are struggling to buy food, praying for electricity and afraid to travel.
“Nigerians have had enough of hardship dressed up as reform. Tinubu made life expensive. I will make Nigeria affordable again. Let this be the last year he asks Nigerians to suffer and applaud. In 2027, we will bring this chapter to an end.
“Rather than empathise with Nigerians over worsening socioeconomic conditions, Tinubu returned after his four-week stay in Europe which was described by the Presidency as a ‘working vacation’ and declared: ‘I enjoyed myself. Fantastic.’ Asked about his health, he added: ‘Ready to kick, ready to walk.’ These tone-deaf remarks once again exposed his yawning distance from the existential realities Nigerians face,” he stated.
