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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has lambasted the President Bola Tinubu administration over the increase to the pump price of fuel to N1470 .
Atiku, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, accused the government of allegedly presiding over opaque Federation Account deductions, questionable management of oil revenues, parallel funding arrangements.
The former Vice President stated that it is “unconscionable for a government that has extracted unprecedented sacrifice from citizens in the name of subsidy removal to keep raising the cost of survival while refusing to provide a clear, verifiable account of the enormous revenues, savings and deductions accumulated under its watch.”
Atiku noted that while the Tinubu administration told Nigerians that removal of fuel subsidy removal would free resources for education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential services, more than three years later citizens are confronted with high fuel prices.
According to him, “petrol at ₦1,470 per litre is not merely a figure at the filling station. It enters the price of transportation, food, school runs, farming, manufacturing and virtually everything Nigerians buy.
“Every increase at the pump travels directly into the household budget. After all the pain imposed on Nigerians, they have a right to ask: where are the subsidy savings and where is the money?”
The ADC candidate, who noted that Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) official records justify greater scrutiny. In June 2025, stating that in June 2025, gross Federation Account revenue was reported at ₦4.232 trillion while ₦1.818 trillion was eventually distributed, with substantial sums categorised as cost of collection, transfers, interventions, refunds and savings.
Consequently, he demanded a comprehensive reconciliation of Federation Account revenues from 2023 to date, showing gross collections, every deduction made before distribution, the statutory authority for each deduction, the receiving accounts and the ultimate beneficiaries.
Furthermore, Atiku called for full disclosure around the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil-production revenues, NNPC’s international LNG trading operations, offshore corporate structures and allegations involving unofficial crude lifting, maritime surveillance contracts and other possible off-book revenue flows.
The former Vice President added that “these allegations are too serious to be answered with press statements and political insults. Every barrel can be measured, every cargo identified and every legitimate payment traced. If everything is in order, publish the records and allow independent forensic auditors to reconcile them. If the allegations are false, the records will clear the government.
“With crude oil around $102.52 per barrel, Nigerians are paying as much as ₦1,470 per litre. In 2008, when crude oil reached about $147 per barrel, petrol sold at ₦65 per litre under the Yar’Adua administration. The difference is that government then understood that economic policy must ultimately protect the welfare of citizens.
“At about $4.31 per gallon, U.S. petrol is roughly $1.14 per litre. Yet while the U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, Nigeria’s minimum wage is only ₦70,000 per month.
“Tinubu has brought Nigerians close to American fuel prices while leaving them with Nigerian poverty wages. That is the true cost of his subsidy-removal policy. After all the oil, all the revenue, all the deductions and all the hardship, petrol is now ₦1,470 per litre. The question Tinubu must answer is simple: where are the savings, where are the revenues, and who is taking Nigeria’s money?”
