Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of mortgaging Nigeria’s future crude oil earnings through undisclosed financing arrangements and demanded full public disclosure of the terms of those deals.
In a statement issued on Monday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the Presidency’s recent defence of its economic record had inadvertently confirmed rather than dispelled the concern.
“In attempting to rebut our position, the Presidency inadvertently strengthened it. It admitted that despite higher international crude oil prices, Nigerians cannot fully benefit because substantial volumes of the nation’s crude have already been committed under crude-backed financing arrangements,” the statement read.
Atiku described the admission as an indictment, arguing that if the nation’s future oil earnings had already been encumbered, the government had merely replaced one fiscal burden with another.
“These are not political questions; they are constitutional questions about transparency and accountability,” Atiku stated.
The former Vice President linked the demand for disclosure to the government’s defence of its fuel subsidy removal, noting that the Presidency could not simultaneously claim victory over subsidy while explaining away missing oil revenues by pointing to obligations created by subsidy financing.
“That contradiction speaks louder than any press statement,” he said. Atiku insisted that transparency, not propaganda, remains the true test of fiscal responsibility, adding that a government unwilling to disclose the terms of its crude-backed borrowing has no basis to lecture Nigerians on prudence.
The statement forms part of Atiku’s ongoing critique of the Tinubu administration’s management of oil revenues and rising public debt.