Atiku to FG: Explain how petrol got to over N1,400 per litre despite rising oil revenues

Calls for comprehensive reconciliation of federation account revenues from 2023 to date

Rejects attempts by FG to attribute rising domestic petrol prices solely to int’l oil market

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, asked the Federal Government to explain the management of Nigeria’s oil revenues and savings from petrol subsidy removal as petrol prices rise to as much as N1,450 per litre.

The latest price increases followed heightened tensions in the Middle East and a surge in international crude oil prices.

Checks showed that several filling stations in Abuja, the nation’s capital, raised their pump prices to between N1,395 and N1,450 per litre.

In Lagos, some outlets also adjusted prices upwards, with petrol selling for N1,400 per litre at some stations. In Ibadan, one filling station was selling at N1,370 per litre.

In a statement issued on Monday by Phrank Shaibu, his senior special assistant on public communication, Atiku accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of failing to provide adequate explanations on the country’s revenues, federation account deductions and other oil-related transactions.

Atiku said Nigerians were told that the removal of petrol subsidy would free resources for education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential services.

According to him, the continued rise in petrol prices, despite the revenue generated from the oil sector, makes it necessary for the government to account for the funds it has received and the savings it claimed would result from subsidy removal.

“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,” he said.

“After all the pain imposed on Nigerians, they have a right to ask: where are the subsidy savings and where is the money?”

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) called for a comprehensive reconciliation of federation account revenues from 2023 to date.

He said the exercise should disclose gross collections, deductions made before distribution, the statutory authority for each deduction, the accounts into which the funds were paid and the ultimate beneficiaries.

“Nigerians deserve accounts they can interrogate, not accounting labels designed to discourage questions,” he said.

Atiku cited June 2025 federation account figures, when gross revenue was reported at N4.232 trillion while N1.818 trillion was eventually distributed.

He said the substantial sums categorised as cost of collection, transfers, interventions, refunds and savings warranted greater scrutiny.

The former vice-president also demanded disclosure of transactions involving the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil-production revenues and NNPC’s international LNG trading operations.

He further called for transparency over offshore corporate structures and allegations concerning 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,” Atiku said.

“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.”

Atiku also rejected attempts by the federal government to attribute rising domestic petrol prices solely to the international oil market.

“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,” he said.

He argued that the current petrol prices are particularly burdensome given the disparity between Nigerian and American incomes.

“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,” Atiku said.

“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.”

Atiku said the government could no longer demand sacrifices from Nigerians without providing adequate information on public finances.

“After all the oil, all the revenue, all the deductions and all the hardship, petrol is now N1,470 per litre,” he said.

“The question Tinubu must answer is simple: where are the savings, where are the revenues, and who is taking Nigeria’s money?” he asked.