Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the Tinubu administration of presiding over what he described as an increasingly organised system of grand larceny against the Nigerian people, citing opaque Federation Account deductions, questionable management of oil revenues, parallel funding arrangements and allegations of off-book transactions.

Atiku said the alleged lack of accountability comes as Nigerians are being forced to buy petrol for as much as ₦1,470 per litre.

He said it was unconscionable for a government that had extracted unprecedented sacrifices from citizens in the name of subsidy removal to continue raising the cost of living while failing to provide a clear and verifiable account of the revenues, savings and deductions accumulated under its watch.

In a statement issued on his behalf by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said Nigerians were told that subsidy removal would free up resources for education, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential services.

Nearly three and a half years later, he said, citizens were again confronting punishing fuel prices while fundamental questions remained unanswered about where the money had gone.

“Petrol at ₦1,470 per litre is not merely a figure at the filling station. It enters the price of transportation, food, school runs, farming, manufacturing and virtually everything Nigerians buy. Every increase at the pump travels directly into the household budget.

“After all the pain imposed on Nigerians, they have a right to ask: where are the subsidy savings and where is the money?”

Atiku said official Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) records justified greater scrutiny. According to him, gross Federation Account revenue stood at ₦4.232 trillion in June 2025, while ₦1.818 trillion was eventually distributed, with substantial sums categorised as cost of collection, transfers, interventions, refunds and savings.

He demanded a comprehensive reconciliation of Federation Account revenues from 2023 to date, showing gross collections, every deduction made before distribution, the statutory authority for each deduction, the receiving accounts and the ultimate beneficiaries.

“Nigerians deserve accounts they can interrogate, not accounting labels designed to discourage questions,” he said.

The former Vice President also called for full disclosure on the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil-production revenues, NNPC’s international LNG trading operations, offshore corporate structures and allegations involving unofficial crude lifting, maritime surveillance contracts and other possible off-book revenue flows.

“These allegations are too serious to be answered with press statements and political insults. Every barrel can be measured, every cargo identified and every legitimate payment traced. If everything is in order, publish the records and allow independent forensic auditors to reconcile them. If the allegations are false, the records will clear the government.”

Atiku also rejected attempts to use the current international crisis as a blanket justification for rising domestic fuel prices.

“With crude oil around $102.52 per barrel, Nigerians are paying as much as ₦1,470 per litre. In 2008, when crude oil reached about $147 per barrel, petrol sold at ₦65 per litre under the Yar’Adua administration. The difference is that government then understood that economic policy must ultimately protect the welfare of citizens.”

He further argued that Nigerians were being pushed dangerously close to American pump-price levels without anything approaching American income levels.

“At about $4.31 per gallon, U.S. petrol is roughly $1.14 per litre. Yet while the U.S. federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, Nigeria’s minimum wage is only ₦70,000 per month.

“Tinubu has brought Nigerians close to American fuel prices while leaving them with Nigerian poverty wages. That is the true cost of his subsidy-removal policy.”

Atiku said the administration could no longer demand endless sacrifices from Nigerians while treating public accountability as optional.

“After all the oil, all the revenue, all the deductions and all the hardship, petrol is now ₦1,470 per litre. The question Tinubu must answer is simple: where are the savings, where are the revenues, and who is taking Nigeria’s money?”