The Federal Government had disclosed that the removal of the petrol subsidy generated N15.8 trillion in resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association has called on state and local governments to render full accounts of the N10.4 trillion they received from petrol subsidy savings, following the Federal Government’s disclosure of how the broader N15.8 trillion windfall was generated and spent.
Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, made the call in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, following Wednesday’s disclosure by Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele.
“Between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilised the sum of N15.8 trillion in resources for the Federation,” Oyedele said, clarifying that the amount did not appear as a separate credit to the Federation Account labelled “subsidy savings” but was instead reflected in the resources available to all three tiers of government.
He explained that the Federal Government received N5.4 trillion, while N10.4 trillion went to state and local governments.
The NECA DG said the disclosure had placed an obligation on state governments, particularly their finance commissioners, to explain how the funds received had been utilised.
“Absolutely. I think it should trickle down,” Oyerinde said.
He likened the need for public accountability to the way private businesses report their financial performance to shareholders, arguing: “We believe strongly that as private businesses, at the end of the year you audit your accounts, you present your scorecard to your shareholders to gauge what we have done. The Minister of Finance has led the way now, and the states also should follow.”
Oyedele’s presentation showed the Federal Government’s share formed only part of a wider resource pool.
He said the government earned N3.1 trillion in additional independent revenue during the period, largely through remittances from government-owned entities and increased surpluses from government agencies, and also borrowed N11.9 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025 — bringing the Federal Government’s incremental resources from additional revenue and borrowing to N20.4 trillion.
However, Oyedele said incremental expenditure during the period stood at N30.64 trillion, with N9.39 trillion covering wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and public-sector allowances, N9.37 trillion going to external debt servicing amid naira depreciation, and N6.5 trillion channelled into strategic infrastructure. He noted pointedly that the incremental amount the Federal Government alone spent on higher wages exceeded its entire share of subsidy savings, and urged the government to curb borrowing for “gigantic projects” whose benefits aren’t visible to citizens, saying: “You can budget according to your size.
You do not need to be overambitious. Be smart. Be measurable, so that people can see the results of what you are doing.”
The minister identified the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market as the major reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration to address longstanding economic distortions and ease pressure on government finances.
President Tinubu had announced the removal of the petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, during his inauguration, declaring simply that “subsidy is gone.” The policy triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices and contributed to higher transportation, logistics and production costs, worsening cost-of-living pressures on households and businesses.
The Federal Government has continued to defend the reform as necessary to reduce fiscal pressure and redirect public resources towards other priorities, while introducing measures including wage adjustments, agricultural support and the expansion of Compressed Natural Gas initiatives to cushion its impact.
Oyedele maintained that the reforms produced real macroeconomic gains despite their pain.
He said the number of states unable to pay salaries fell from 27 in 2023 to zero in 2026, the debt-service-to-revenue ratio is projected to decline to about 50% in 2026 from roughly 100% in 2022, and gross foreign exchange reserves rose from about $35 billion in May 2023 to $52.5 billion in July 2026.
He acknowledged the reforms’ painful side effects too — the Monetary Policy Rate climbed from 18.5% to 26.5%, and petrol prices rose from around N185 per litre to between N1,100 and N1,400.
Not everyone is convinced the gains have reached ordinary Nigerians.
Analysts have separately questioned the impact of the reforms given how much of the windfall went to wage costs rather than direct relief, while earlier assessments found that despite trillions in subsidy savings, many state governments have struggled to translate the windfall into measures that meaningfully cushion citizens against inflation, hunger and the broader cost-of-living crisis triggered by the reforms — a tension that speaks directly to Oyerinde’s call for states and local governments to now show exactly how their N10.4 trillion share was spent.
