Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the President Bola Tinubu administration of overseeing what it described as one of the most “brazen financial scandals” in Nigeria’s history.
This follows revelations that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited spent N17.5 trillion within 12 months on pipeline security and related costs.
Atiku, in a statement issued on Sunday, November 30, 2025, said the expenditure is nearly equivalent to the N18 trillion Nigeria spent on fuel subsidy across 12 years — an intervention that directly supported millions of citizens and stabilised key sectors.
He condemned what it called an “opaque and questionable” financial outlay tied to private firms reportedly linked to associates of Tinubu, describing the situation as “robbing Nigerians to pay cronies.”
“This is not governance. This is grand larceny dressed as public expenditure,” Atiku stated.
The former vice president criticised Tinubu for removing the fuel subsidy on the grounds that the nation could no longer afford it, only for the government to spend a similar amount in one year on “energy security” and “under-recovery” — terms Atiku labelled deceptive.
According to figures attributed to the NNPC Limited, N7.13 trillion was spent on “energy-security cost to keep petrol prices stable,” while an additional N8.67 trillion went into “under-recovery,” bringing the total to N17.5 trillion.
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Atiku questioned why Nigerians continue to face fuel prices as high as N1,000 per litre despite these expenditures.
“No administration that presides over this level of fiscal recklessness has the moral authority to demand sacrifice from its people,” Atiku said, noting that citizens continue to endure inflation, currency depreciation, and widespread hardship.
Atiku demanded that the federal government immediately publish the list of companies involved, disclose contract details, subject the expenditure to an independent forensic audit, halt further payments pending accountability, and justify the spending amid the economic crisis.
The former vice president said the controversy proves the Tinubu administration did not end fuel subsidy but merely redirected public funds to “a privileged cartel anchored around the Presidency.”
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