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Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described the claims by the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, that savings from the removal of fuel subsidy are being used to offset liabilities inherited from previous administrations as fundamentally misleading.
Atiku, who is also the 2027 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), accused Oyedele of embarking on a “desperate exercise in revisionism.”
The former Vice President, according to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the minister’s claims on public debt, subsidy removal, debt servicing and workers’ welfare collapsed under the weight of publicly available facts.
He stated that: “As of May 2023, when President Tinubu assumed office, the Federal Government’s exposure to the Central Bank of Nigeria stood at approximately ₦26.9 trillion. Today, that exposure has ballooned to over ₦40.38 trillion.
“This administration has not reduced its indebtedness to the CBN. It has merely changed the label on the debt by converting Ways and Means advances into Treasury Bills and bonds while simultaneously piling up fresh obligations. That is debt restructuring—not debt repayment.”
Atiku noted that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, recently disclosed that the CBN’s credit to the Federal Government rose from ₦22.99 trillion in May 2025 to ₦40.38 trillion in May 2026—a staggering increase of ₦17.39 trillion, or 77.6 per cent within one year.
“This completely destroys the narrative that subsidy savings are being used to reduce government indebtedness. Nigerians deserve honesty, not creative accounting.”
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Furthermore, Atiku, while dismissing claims that subsidy savings are funding improved workers’ welfare, also rejected the claim that subsidy savings are financing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
“Which salary increase is the government talking about? The Federal Government is yet to fully implement the new minimum wage. The 40 per cent peculiar allowance tied to the wage adjustment remains unpaid despite official directives that it should take effect from May 1, 2026. The promised wage award has equally not been fully implemented. These are not opposition allegations; they are the grievances of organised labour.”
“The Chief Executive Officer of NELFUND publicly stated that the scheme received a ₦50 billion injection from recovered funds by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). If that is the case, why is the government now presenting subsidy savings as the source? Nigerians are tired of an administration that changes its story each time it is confronted with facts,” he stated.
The former Vice President also faulted the attempt to blame rising debt servicing costs solely on high interest rates, noting that the present administration’s economic scorecard cannot be hidden behind statistics that bear no resemblance to the everyday reality of Nigerians.
According to him, “Who drove interest rates to their current levels? Under this administration, the Monetary Policy Rate has climbed dramatically, making borrowing prohibitively expensive for manufacturers and the private sector.
“Government’s insatiable appetite for borrowing has crowded out productive businesses while pushing debt servicing to unsustainable levels. To now blame interest rates is nothing short of an admission of policy failure.
“Food prices have spiralled beyond the reach of ordinary families. Inflation continues to erode incomes. Businesses are shutting down. Unemployment remains alarming. The naira has suffered unprecedented depreciation, while poverty has deepened across the country. These are the realities Nigerians confront daily—not the glossy presentations from government officials.”
