Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the current pump price of petrol, arguing that Nigerians are paying far more at the pump than the underlying crude price justifies.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku noted that Nigerians now pay as much as ₦1,470 per litre even though crude oil, at $102.52 per barrel, is priced well below the $147 per barrel it reached in 2008 — when petrol sold for ₦65 per litre under the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua. He accused the current administration of running what he called “an organised system of grand larceny,” pointing to opaque FAAC deductions, questionable oil revenue management, and allegations of off-book transactions.
“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,” Atiku said, adding that government then understood economic policy must protect citizens’ welfare.
The ADC presidential candidate said it was unconscionable for a government that has demanded major sacrifice from citizens over subsidy removal to keep raising fuel costs without providing a verifiable account of the revenues and savings accumulated. He recalled that Nigerians were promised subsidy removal would free up resources for education, healthcare and infrastructure, yet nearly three and a half years on, key questions about where the money went remain unanswered.
“Petrol at ₦1,470 per litre is not merely a figure at the filling station… After all the pain imposed on Nigerians, they have a right to ask: where are the subsidy savings and where is the money?” he queried.
Atiku cited official FAAC figures to back his call for scrutiny, noting that in June 2025 gross Federation Account revenue stood at ₦4.232 trillion, while only ₦1.818 trillion was eventually distributed — with the remainder classified under cost of collection, transfers, interventions, refunds and savings. He demanded a full reconciliation of Federation Account revenues from 2023 to date, including every deduction, its statutory basis, and the receiving accounts and beneficiaries.
He also called for complete disclosure around the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil-production revenues, NNPC’s international LNG trading operations, offshore corporate structures, and allegations of unofficial crude lifting and maritime surveillance contracts.
“These allegations are too serious to be answered with press statements and political insults… If everything is in order, publish the records and allow independent forensic auditors to reconcile them,” he said.
Drawing an international comparison, Atiku noted that at roughly $4.31 per gallon, U.S. petrol works out to about $1.14 per litre — even though the U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour against Nigeria’s ₦70,000 monthly minimum wage.
“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,” he said, insisting the administration can no longer demand endless sacrifice while treating accountability as optional.
— Ogbeni Olawale Dawodu
