*Demands explanation of N30trn revenue spending
WorldStage— Former Nigeria’s Vice President Atiku Abubakar has fired back at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing the President’s critique of his proposed petroleum-sector intervention as the “insolent sermon of a failed economic experimenter.”
In a scathing press statement issued on Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused Tinubu of mistaking Nigerians’ capacity to endure extreme suffering for evidence that his policies are actually working.
The fiery confrontation marks an escalation in the ongoing political feud between the two leaders over how to handle the country’s crushing energy crisis and economic reforms.
The war of words erupted after President Tinubu openly taunted Atiku’s proposal to reintroduce a form of petroleum support if elected president in 2027.
Speaking at the State House on Thursday while receiving Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, Tinubu dismissed Atiku’s roadmap as a “demonstration of serious ignorance on governance and the economy.”
In his response, Atiku countered that the real ignorance lies in believing that widespread citizen hardship constitutes a valid economic strategy.
He further declared that if “economic ignorance had a presidential seal, Tinubu and his family would be its official logo.”
Rather than a return to an unrestricted, corrupt subsidy regime, Atiku defended his proposal under the African Democratic Congress (ADC) banner as a targeted, time-bound production-support mechanism designed to enhance domestic refining.
He went on to accuse the Tinubu administration of deep fiscal opacity, challenging the presidency to explain massive spending discrepancies within its own books.
Atiku demanded a transparent accounting of nearly ₦30 trillion in Federation Account revenues, deductions, and savings.
He pointed out that while the administration publicly claims petrol subsidy is dead, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) audited records contain approximately ₦17.5 trillion in energy-security costs and under-recoveries.
Atiku challenged the government to explain the ₦12.8 trillion Service-Wide Vote hidden inside the 2026 federal budget.
Atiku strongly rejected Tinubu’s argument that higher Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) payouts to state governments validate the success of subsidy removal.
He argued that boosting government bank accounts by destroying the purchasing power of families is an admission of developmental failure.”You do not build a federation by impoverishing citizens so that Abuja can send bigger cheques to governors,” Atiku stated.
He added that hungry citizens cannot boil raw FAAC statistical figures for dinner, nor can struggling businesses power their factories using political speeches.
He concluded by urging Nigerians to reject another four years of what he termed a bitter, destructive macroeconomic experiment.
