Atiku to Tinubu: Account for N30tr subsidy windfall now

Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress, ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to account for about N30 trillion in Federation revenues, deductions, savings and transfers, saying the latest July 2026 figures have deepened questions over the management of public funds.

Mr Atiku said his earlier reconciliation of published Federation Account figures had identified about N28 trillion requiring explanation up to June 2026, adding that the July figures had raised fresh questions and pushed the cumulative amount requiring transparent public accounting towards N30 trillion.

He made the demand in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

“The question President Tinubu must answer remains painfully simple: Where is the money?” Mr Atiku asked.

According to the statement, gross statutory revenue for July 2026 stood at N4.359 trillion, while the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, approved a total distribution of N3.007 trillion to the Federal Government, the 36 states and 774 local government councils.

Mr Atiku said the figures underscored the need for a comprehensive reconciliation of revenues accruing to the Federation Account and the various deductions made before funds are distributed to the three tiers of government.

“The madness continues. Month after month, trillions of naira enter the Federation accounts, and month after month enormous amounts are removed under different classifications before the balance is distributed,” he said.

“Our reconciliation previously identified approximately N28 trillion requiring explanation up to June 2026. July shows that the pattern has continued. The cumulative amount of Federation revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related funds requiring transparent reconciliation is now approaching N30 trillion.

“If the Tinubu administration disputes that figure, the answer is not another press statement. Publish the ledger.”

The former Vice-President recalled that in January 2024, N2.068 trillion was reported as available revenue, while N1.149 trillion was distributed.

He added that in June 2025, N4.232 trillion was reported as available, but only N1.818 trillion was shared, while N4.501 trillion was reported as available in June 2026, with N2.551 trillion distributed.

“These are not accounting footnotes. This is the wealth of the Nigerian people,” Atiku said.

He argued that the figures were government figures and therefore the responsibility for explaining the differences rested with the administration.

“These are also government figures, not ours. The accounts are in the custody of the government, not the opposition. Therefore, the burden is on President Tinubu and his administration to tell Nigerians what happened to their money,” he said.

Mr Atiku demanded the publication of detailed accounts showing every deduction, transfer, beneficiary and balance.

“Government cannot demand that citizens prove what happened to public funds whose collection, custody, deductions and disbursement are exclusively under its control. Publish the accounts, identify every deduction and beneficiary, show the transfers, show the savings, show the balances and show the dates,” he said.

He also demanded specific clarification on revenues and fiscal gains arising from the removal of petroleum and energy subsidies, saying Nigerians had been told that the painful reforms would free resources for development.

“President Tinubu did not ask Nigerians to endure the agony of subsidy removal so that the proceeds could become unexplained stashed funds beyond public scrutiny,” Atiku said.

“The savings and additional revenues generated by these reforms belong to the Nigerian people. They are not the private reserves of the Presidency or any government agency.

“Where is the subsidy-removal windfall?”

Mr Atiku said the gains from subsidy removal should by now be evident in major investments capable of improving the living conditions and productive capacity of Nigerians.

He listed inter-state rail connectivity, increased funding and capacity for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, stronger primary healthcare facilities, improved public transportation and infrastructure aimed at reducing the cost of doing business.

“Instead, Nigerians are paying more for petrol, electricity, transportation and food while the government celebrates record revenues without providing an equally transparent account of what happened to the proceeds of their sacrifice,” he said.

The ADC presidential candidate also questioned what he described as a contradiction between claims of unprecedented revenues and savings and the country’s continued borrowing.

“If these trillions genuinely exist as savings, where are they and why is Nigeria borrowing so aggressively?

“If the money has been transferred, who received it? If it has been spent, what was it spent on? If it remains in government accounts, what are the balances today?

“These are straightforward questions. President Tinubu should provide straightforward answers,” he said.

Mr Atiku consequently challenged the Federal Government to publish a month-by-month and beneficiary-by-beneficiary reconciliation of Federation revenues from June 2023 to date.

He said the reconciliation should clearly identify cost of collection, savings, transfers, interventions, refunds and all other deductions.

“For every naira removed before distribution, Nigerians deserve to know the amount, beneficiary, purpose, date, destination and legal authority.

“Transparency is not achieved by attaching convenient accounting labels to trillions of naira. It is achieved by opening the books,” he said.

Mr Atiku said Nigerians had made significant sacrifices since the commencement of the administration’s economic reforms and should not be denied access to information on how the resulting revenues were being managed.

“President Tinubu asked Nigerians to make sacrifices. Nigerians have sacrificed enough. What they cannot be asked to sacrifice is their constitutional right to know what happened to their money.

“If the approximately N30 trillion is properly accounted for, President Tinubu should publish the ledger and show Nigerians where every naira went,” he said.