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By Myke Agunwa
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has described as scandalous and “grand larceny” the spending of a staggering N17.5 trillion in a single year on an “opaque” pipeline protection contracts awarded to private firms allegedly linked to presidential associates and cronies.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu abruptly ended Nigeria’s decades-old petrol subsidy regime on 29 May 2023, after being sworn in as president. With subsidy costs projected to hit N11–N12 trillion, Tinubu argued that the regime was unsustainable, riddled with corruption, disproportionately benefited smugglers and the wealthy, and consumed funds needed for infrastructure, health, and education, and debt servicing, thereby making its removal the only viable path to reset Nigeria’s economy despite the inevitable sharp rise in petrol prices and cost-of-living pressures that followed.
But in a statement on Sunday, Atiku through his media office, described the expenditure as “one of the most brazen financial scandals in Nigeria’s history” and “grand larceny dressed as public expenditure.”
Drawing a damning comparison, Atiku said that Nigeria spent approximately N18 trillion on fuel subsidies in 12 years (2009–2021), a program he said directly cushioned millions of citizens, stabilized transportation costs, and kept food inflation in check.
“Yet, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the country has now expended nearly the same amount, N17.5 trillion, in a single year on the same subsidy and opaque pipeline security contracts awarded to private firms tied to associates and cronies of the President.
“It is akin to robbing Peter (the Nigerian people) to pay Paul (presidential cronies). This is not governance. This is grand larceny,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President added that Nigerians were told to “tighten their belts” and endure hardship after the sudden removal of fuel subsidies in May 2023, only for the government to quietly funnel an almost identical sum into shadowy security deals.
“That N17.5 trillion could have transformed Nigeria’s power sector, rebuilt all four government-owned refineries, funded universal healthcare for every Nigerian, or built thousands of kilometres of modern railways. Instead, it has disappeared into contracts whose details are hidden from the public and whose beneficiaries are conveniently close to the corridors of power,” Atiku lamented.
He demanded an immediate independent forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) accounts, full disclosure of the companies awarded the pipeline surveillance contracts, and the publication of performance reports justifying the expenditure.
“After removing subsidy and inflicting untold hardship on citizens, the least this government owes Nigerians is transparency on how it is spending the so-called savings,” Atiku said.