* Tinubu orders 500 more CNG stations, as governors target cheaper haulage costs
* Tinubu meets APC governors as 2027 campaign season gathers momentum
* Provide details of ‘N600b cash transfers to 15m Nigerians’, Atiku challenges Tinubu
* Ndume: Incompetent aides around Tinubu causing him embarrassment

The buck-passing continued yesterday as fresh controversies trailed utilisation of the gains accrued from petrol subsidy removal.

A week after Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, outlined how petrol subsidy reforms freed N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025, the 36 state governors yesterday stoutly rejected allegations that sub-national governments had failed to properly account for funds received from the removal of fuel subsidy after the presidency had severally asked citizens to hold their governors responsible.

Disclosing details of the revenue disbursed via the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), Oyedele had said the Federal Government received N5.4 trillion of the N15.8 trillion, while N10.4 trillion was distributed among state and local governments.

After Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and former Vice President stirred the hornet’s nest over alleged mismanagement of the subsidy removal saving, proposing a possible return of petrol subsidy if elected into office next year, the Presidency responded, critiquing Atiku’s proposal as a return to dark ages of petrol scarcity and government insolvency, while demanding more accountability from governors for the increased monthly revenue to states.

Responding yesterday, the 36 governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), dismissed suggestions that states should accept blame over the management of subsidy removal proceeds.

Chairman of the Forum, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, who spoke through Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State after the Forum’s third meeting in Abuja, said: “That cannot be true. That cannot be true. But we’ll leave that debate for another day”, when asked whether the Forum would accept blame that sub-nationals had not been properly accountable for funds obtained from the removal of fuel subsidy.

The governors also expressed overwhelming support for the proposed rollout of the National Affordable CNG Transit Programme (NACTP), a state-led initiative designed to reduce passenger fares by translating the lower operating cost of CNG into cheaper transportation across the country.

Diri said the proposal envisaged state support for CNG vehicle conversions, fleets and enabling infrastructure, alongside fare commitments from participating operators, with an indicative target of reducing passenger fares.

On the timeline for implementation of the NACTP, the NGF Chairman said the details would be worked out between the Forum and the proponents of the programme. He explained that “those details will be worked out between the Forum and those who have come to present to the Forum.”

The governors also justified the decision to focus the palliative on the transportation sector, saying the cost of moving people and goods had a direct impact on the prices of food and other essential commodities.

Responding to the wider debate on fuel subsidy removal and calls for a reversal of the policy, he said the NACTP was among measures being considered to cushion the impact of the reform on Nigerians.

THIS is as President Bola Tinubu yesterday directed the rollout of an additional 500 compressed natural gas refuelling stations nationwide, bringing the planned number of stations under the Presidential CNG Initiative to 1,000. Tinubu disclosed this following his discussion with the Governors’ Forum on Thursday.

Commenting on the meeting in a statement personally signed by him and posted on his X handle on Thursday, the President said the governors “have, on their own initiative, resolved to take immediate measures to bring down the cost of transportation in their states, with a strong focus on leveraging the cost benefits of CNG and electric vehicles.”

He said the Federal Government was already investing significantly in the energy transition, noting that efforts were ongoing to expand conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure nationwide. “The Federal Government is already investing significantly in this energy transition. Through the Presidential CNG Initiative, over 120,000 vehicles have been converted nationwide, with more than 100,000 additional conversion kits in the works. At the same time, we continue to expand conversion centres and refuelling infrastructure nationwide,” Tinubu said.

According to him, the Federal Government, through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, is financing more than 100 gas projects across the country, including 15 CNG mother stations and 86 daughter stations.  Tinubu said four of the projects were commissioned in May in Lagos, Abuja and Owerri, including a 15-station refuelling network in Lagos and an Abuja facility capable of serving 1,000 cars and tricycles and 50 trucks and buses daily.

Tinubu said the expansion was particularly important for intra-state transportation, where, he said, Nigerians felt the cost most directly.

“I am encouraged that our Governors are moving to bring these benefits closer to the people they serve,” he said.

The President said the Federal and state governments had agreed to establish a joint committee to begin implementing measures to reduce transport costs immediately. He said: “A vehicle running on CNG spends 60 to 80 per cent less on fuel than one running on petrol.

“From October 1, our goal is that Nigerians begin to partake in those savings through lower transport fares. We have agreed that cheaper fuel should result in cheaper fares! Each tier of government must keep doing its part and work together for the benefit of every Nigerian.”

Shortly after the NGF’s meeting, President Tinubu yesterday met with governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at the State House, Abuja, in an engagement coming amid preparations for the 2027 general elections.

The meeting, which was being held behind closed doors, commenced shortly after 3:00 p.m., following the governors’ participation in the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting at the State House. The APC governors, under the aegis of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF), were led into the meeting with the President after the NEC session, which was chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Although the agenda of the meeting had not been officially disclosed as of the time of filing this report, the engagement comes at a politically significant period, with campaigns for the 2027 general elections already underway. The meeting is taking place eight days after the commencement of campaigns in line with the timetable and schedule of activities released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It also comes five days after the APC unveiled the membership of its Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 elections, with former Zamfara State Governor and Senator, Abdulaziz Yari, appointed Director-General.

The closed-door engagement is therefore expected to provide an opportunity for the President and the APC governors to discuss political and organisational issues ahead of the elections, although the specific issues on the agenda remained undisclosed.

Provide details of ‘N600b cash transfers to 15m Nigerians’, Atiku challenges Tinubu
MEANWHILE, Atiku has raised concerns over the controversial N600 billion cash transfers to millions of households in Nigeria by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. Atiku, in a statement by his media team on Thursday, questioned the whereabouts of the said beneficiaries.

Recall that on July 16 and August 2, 2026, the Presidency said in separate statements that the Tinubu administration’s expanded cash transfer programme had reached 15 million vulnerable households. However, on August 26, 2026, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Bernard Doro, told Nigerians that only “slightly over 10 million households” had been reached.

Reacting, the former Vice President questioned the contradictions in the figures issued by the President and the minister. He demanded that the Tinubu administration, as a matter of urgency, provide details of the households that benefited from the N600 billion cash transfers.

“So where did five million households go? These are not opposition figures. They are Tinubu’s figures contradicting Tinubu’s figures. The arithmetic is even more troubling. Nigerians were told qualifying households would receive N25,000 monthly for three months — N75,000 per household. If 10 million households received the full payment, that would be about N750 billion. If 15 million households did, it would exceed N1.1 trillion. Yet the government says it spent just over N600 billion,” Atiku stated.

“How many names were merely lifted from an existing social register and presented as evidence of actual payment? A name on a social register is not a bank alert. Counting people in a database is not the same thing as proving money reached them,” he added.

THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, has, however, said the economic reforms of President Tinubu’s administration have strengthened the capacity of the federal and state governments to finance critical development projects across the country. Malagi stated this in Jalingo during his visit to Taraba State, where he engaged government officials and local media practitioners on the policies and programmes of the federal government.

According to the minister, the reforms have created additional fiscal space for the various tiers of government to invest in infrastructure, education and other critical sectors of the economy. He particularly defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, arguing that the policy had enabled government to redirect resources previously spent on subsidy payments to developmental programmes.

Malagi said the Tinubu administration inherited a challenging economic situation, noting that several states were struggling to meet their salary obligations before the reforms were introduced. He cautioned that reversing the subsidy policy could undermine the gains being recorded, insisting that increased revenues available to governments were already being reflected in the number of infrastructure projects being executed nationwide.

The minister also highlighted the Federal Government’s interventions in the education sector, saying qualified Nigerian students were being supported regardless of their political, religious or ethnic backgrounds. He said the objective was to ensure that financial constraints did not deprive young Nigerians of access to quality education and opportunities for self-development.

On the broader economy, Malagi said Nigeria was gradually regaining the confidence of international investors, with improvements recorded in key economic indicators, including foreign exchange reserves and inflation. He added that the reforms had also improved the country’s relationship with international financial institutions and strengthened Nigeria’s prospects of attracting more investment.

The minister stressed that the Federal Government remained committed to working closely with state governments to tackle security challenges and create a safer environment for economic activities.

DISPLEASED by the state of affairs in the country in the months leading to the general elections, the senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, has described some members of the presidency as unqualified, saying their incompetence is causing embarrassment to the President Tinubu-led administration. Ndume, who didn’t specifically mention any names, warned that unless the president takes a decisive measure, these members in the presidency would continue to “mess him up.”

The Borno lawmaker stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme.

Ndume lamented the recent discovery of a fake government agency under the administration’s watch, saying the presence of “capable hands” would have prevented such an occurrence.

“My concern remains that the President has so many kakistocrats dominating the presidency. Unless he does something about it, they will continue to mess him up. We had a fake agency operating with an office, and after the ICPC investigated, they discovered even more. A permanent secretary in the presidency had to be suspended. That is where I give the President credit, but I insist that if he had capable hands, all this mess and embarrassment wouldn’t be happening. He is still not taking the appropriate action on it.

“People put up the presidential campaign committee. If I had the ear of Mr President, there was no need for a presidential campaign committee. Instead, what is the party doing? The president is the product of the party. The owner of a product should be the one selling the product, not the product selling itself. Yes, I disagree. He shouldn’t be on it; it should be the National Chairman of the party,” Ndume said.

Speaking on the divergent opinions on the fuel subsidy removal, Ndume expressed his thoughts, saying he supported the implementation of the government’s policy to remove fuel subsidy. He, however, noted that this was one of the “very difficult decisions” made by the president.

“The performance of this administration, when you look at it in context, is that the President has expressed himself and genuinely wanted to confront difficult issues. He has taken very difficult decisions, and it is painful to Nigerians—that is the greatest part of it now. Take two examples: on the day he was sworn in, he removed the fuel subsidy. I was surprised, but many Nigerians support the removal of the oil subsidy. However, the consequences and effects are the major problem against the APC now, because it brought hardship to the people.

“The president himself acknowledged that there is hardship as a result of the policies, but promised Nigerians that there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Nigerians are very anxious and waiting, and some are even saying there is no sign of light at the end of the tunnel. We are saying that the staff or people he has around him are the major problem. Instead of talking about ideas and events, they have small minds and talk about people. When anybody makes a statement, the President’s spokespersons rush on TV to insult the person and call them names. That is not it. You take the points that person made about the system one after the other,” the senator said.