Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Bola Tinubu administration over reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited spent ₦17.5 trillion in one year on securing fuel pipelines, describing the development as unprecedented and alarming.
In a statement issued by the Atiku Media Office on Sunday, he said the revelation “stands as one of the most brazen financial scandals in our nation’s history.”
The statement compared the alleged spending to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy expenditure over more than a decade, saying, ”For clarity, Nigeria spent roughly ₦18 trillion on fuel subsidy over a period of 12 years, a national programme that directly cushioned millions of Nigerians, stabilised the transport sector, and helped keep food prices manageable.”
It argued that the Tinubu government had channelled almost the same amount in a single year into opaque security contracts.
Yet, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the country has now expended nearly the same amount in a single year on same subsidy and opaque pipeline security contracts awarded to private firms tied to associates and cronies of the President.
“Indeed, the action of the President is akin to robbing Peter (Nigerians) to pay Paul (cronies). This is not governance. This is grand larceny dressed as public expenditure,” the statement said.
Atiku also questioned the administration’s justification for subsidy removal, stating, ”Nigerians were told to tighten their belts, endure hardship, and ‘make sacrifices.’
However, the same administration has now channelled ₦17.5 trillion, an amount that could transform Nigeria’s power sector, rebuild our refineries, or fund universal healthcare, into opaque security contracts whose beneficiaries are conveniently linked to those in power.”
On reported spending under categories labelled by government, it noted, ”According to the records provided by the NNPCL, this same administration has spent N7.13tn on what it calls ‘energy-security cost to keep petrol prices stable’; another N8.67tn on what it calls ‘under-recovery.’
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