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• Demands account of subsidy savings, oil revenues
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has launched a scathing attack on President Bola Tinubu over the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which has hit N1,470 per litre, demanding a full account of revenues and savings accruing from the removal of fuel subsidy.
Atiku described the latest price as unconscionable, accusing the Tinubu administration of inflicting unprecedented hardship on Nigerians while failing to provide a clear and verifiable account of the huge revenues and savings it claimed would accrue from subsidy removal.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president also accused the administration of presiding over opaque Federation Account deductions, questionable management of oil revenues and parallel funding arrangements.
He said it was unacceptable for a government that had extracted unprecedented sacrifices from Nigerians in the name of subsidy removal to continue raising the cost of survival without satisfactorily accounting for the proceeds of the policy.
Atiku recalled that the Tinubu administration had told Nigerians that subsidy removal would free resources for education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential services, but said more than three years later, citizens were confronted with high fuel prices and worsening living costs.
“Petrol at N1,470 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?” he said.
The ADC candidate said official Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) records justified greater scrutiny of government revenues and deductions.
He cited the June 2025 FAAC figures, when gross Federation Account revenue was reported at N4.232 trillion while N1.818 trillion was eventually distributed, with substantial sums categorised as cost of collection, transfers, interventions, refunds and savings.
Consequently, Atiku 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, receiving accounts and ultimate beneficiaries.
He also called for full disclosure on the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil-production revenues, NNPC’s international Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) trading operations and offshore corporate structures.
Atiku further demanded explanations over allegations involving unofficial crude lifting, maritime surveillance contracts and other possible off-book revenue flows.
“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,” he said.
The former vice president also contrasted the current situation with 2008, when international crude oil prices reached about $147 per barrel.
“With crude oil around $102.52 per barrel, Nigerians are paying as much as N1,470 per litre. In 2008, when crude oil reached about $147 per barrel, petrol sold at N65 per litre under the Yar’Adua administration. The difference is that government then understood that economic policy must ultimately protect the welfare of citizens,” he said.
Atiku also drew a comparison with petrol prices and wages in the United States.
“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 N70,000 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 N1,470 per litre. The question Tinubu must answer is simple: where are the savings, where are the revenues, and who is taking Nigeria’s money?” he asked.
