Atiku accuses Tinubu government of overspending N17.5trn on pipeline protection in one year
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has sharply criticised the Bola Tinubu administration following disclosures that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) allegedly spent N17.5 trillion within 12 months on pipeline security and related fuel-price stabilisation costs.
In a statement released through his media office on Sunday, Alhaji Atiku condemned the reported expenditure as shocking and excessive, describing it as “one of the most audacious financial scandals Nigeria has ever witnessed.”
He also argued that the figures amount to nearly the same total spent on fuel subsidies over a 12-year period, a national programme aimed at cushioning economic hardship, yet were expended in a single year under the current administration through what he described as opaque contracts and questionable financial categories.
Atiku further challenged the justification for the reported spending, insisting that the government’s repeated assertion that fuel subsidy has been abolished is contradicted by the NNPCL’s own accounting.
According to him, the NNPCL’s records show N7.13 trillion attributed to “energy-security costs to maintain stable petrol prices” and another N8.67 trillion tagged as “under-recovery”, terms Atiku dismissed as newly coined labels meant to disguise continued subsidy payments.
He criticised the administration for urging citizens to endure inflation, rising fuel costs, and economic distress while, in his view, funnelling vast resources into contracts allegedly linked to political allies.
“This government has no basis demanding sacrifice from citizens while trillions are being routed to private interests under the banner of pipeline security,” the statement said.
Atiku further asserted that the amount reportedly spent could have transformed key national sectors, such as electricity, healthcare, and refinery rehabilitation.
The former Vice President demanded full disclosure of the companies involved in the security contracts, the content of the agreements, and the justification for such unprecedented spending.
He also called for an independent forensic audit and an immediate halt to further payments until accountability measures are in place.
Among the questions he posed were:
Who are the contractors engaged under the scheme?
Why has the cost of maintaining fuel price stability surged by nearly 40 percent in one year?
Why is protecting pipelines now costlier than a decade of nationwide subsidy payments?
Where are the oversight reports to validate the spending?
He argued that the expenditure, if confirmed, contradicts the administration’s claims of eliminating subsidies and instead suggests public funds are being redirected to a privileged network surrounding the Presidency.
Atiku linked the issue to wider economic challenges, including soaring inflation, the weakening naira, and rising hunger levels, insisting that Nigerians deserve accountability, not financial obscurity.
He noted that the administration must explain how the reported N17.5 trillion aligned with the nation’s immediate priorities during what he described as a period of severe economic hardship.
