N1,470 per litre: Atiku faults FG over increase in fuel price 

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the Federal Government over the rising price of petrol, saying the current international oil market crisis cannot be used as an excuse to justify Nigerians paying as much as N1,470 per litre.

Atiku also accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of failing to adequately account for revenues, deductions and savings accruing to the government following the removal of petrol subsidy.

The Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) made the allegations in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

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Atiku alleged that the administration was presiding over what he described as an “organised system of grand larceny” involving opaque Federation Account deductions, oil revenues, parallel funding arrangements and alleged off-book transactions.

He said Nigerians had made enormous sacrifices since the removal of petrol subsidy, with the government promising that savings from the policy would be channelled into critical sectors including education, healthcare and infrastructure.

“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?” he said.

Atiku called for a comprehensive reconciliation of Federation Account revenues from 2023 to date, including gross collections, deductions made before distribution, the statutory basis for such deductions, receiving accounts and ultimate beneficiaries.

He cited June 2025 Federation Account figures, which he said showed gross revenue of N4.232 trillion, while N1.818 trillion was eventually distributed, with various sums categorised as cost of collection, transfers, interventions, refunds and savings.

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

The former vice president also demanded disclosure of transactions relating to the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, OML 143, oil production revenues and NNPC’s international LNG trading operations.

He further called for transparency over offshore corporate structures and allegations surrounding unofficial crude lifting, maritime surveillance contracts and other possible off-book revenue flows.

According to him, the allegations should be subjected to independent forensic scrutiny rather than dismissed through political statements.

“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,” he said.

‘International crisis no excuse’

Atiku also rejected what he described as attempts to blame the international oil market for the rising domestic cost of petrol.

He noted that crude oil was trading at about $102.52 per barrel while Nigerians were paying as much as N1,470 per litre for petrol.

He compared the situation with 2008, when crude oil prices reached about $147 per barrel but petrol sold at N65 per litre under the administration of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

“The difference is that government then understood that economic policy must ultimately protect the welfare of citizens,” he said.

Atiku also compared petrol prices and incomes in Nigeria and the United States, arguing that Nigerians were being exposed to international-level fuel prices without corresponding 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,” he said.

Atiku said the Federal Government could no longer demand endless sacrifices from Nigerians while failing to provide adequate explanations about public finances.

“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?” he said.