Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticized the Bola Tinubu administration following reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) spent ₦17.5 trillion in just one year on securing fuel pipelines.
He described the spending as “unprecedented and alarming.”
In a statement released by the Atiku Media Office on Sunday, Atiku called the revelation “one of the most brazen financial scandals in our nation’s history.”
The statement drew a comparison between the alleged pipeline security expenditure and Nigeria’s fuel subsidy, which cost the country approximately ₦18 trillion over a 12-year period. Atiku pointed out that the fuel subsidy, a national program, helped cushion millions of Nigerians, stabilize the transport sector, and keep food prices manageable.
“For clarity, Nigeria spent roughly ₦18 trillion on fuel subsidy over a period of twelve years — a national programme that directly cushioned millions of Nigerians, stabilised the transport sector, and helped keep food prices manageable.
“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 the removal of the fuel subsidy, 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.”
Atiku also highlighted the reported spending under various government categories, stating, “According to records from the NNPCL, this administration has spent ₦7.13 trillion on what it calls ‘energy-security costs to maintain stable petrol prices,’ and another ₦8.67 trillion on what it terms ‘under-recovery.’”
The statement further read, “These two balablu nomenclatures: energy-cost and under-recovery are a new coinage of the Tinubu administration to deceive Nigerians on the government’s fraudulent claim that it was no longer paying subsidies on petroleum products.
“This raises fundamental questions of public trust and national integrity:
*Who are the companies paid under these contracts?
*What specifically justifies a 38.7 percent rise in the amount of energy-cost from N6.25tn in 2024 to N8.67tn in 2025?
*Why is pipeline security now more expensive than a decade-long subsidy that served over 200 million Nigerians?
*Where are the audit reports, parliamentary oversight findings, and cost-validation documents?
“No administration that presides over this level of fiscal recklessness has the moral authority to demand sacrifice from its people. The Nigerian public cannot continue to suffer crushing inflation, punitive fuel prices, an unending collapse of the naira, and widespread hunger — only for a select circle of political allies to pocket trillions under the guise of “pipeline security.”
“This scandal confirms what Nigerians already know: the Tinubu administration did not end subsidy — it merely redirected public wealth from the entire nation to a privileged cartel anchored around the Presidency.
“The government must, without delay:
- Publish the full list of companies awarded these contracts;
- Disclose the scope, deliverables, and duration of each contract;
- Subject the entire ₦17.5 trillion expenditure to an independent forensic audit;
- Halt further disbursement until accountability is established;
- Explain to Nigerians how this expenditure aligns with national priorities at a time of unprecedented economic strangulation.
“Nigerians deserve transparency, not deceit. They deserve leadership, not cronyism. And they deserve a government that places national interest above private enrichment.”
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