By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA — The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, Director-General of President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign, to explain how Nigerians have benefited from the N15.8 trillion in additional resources it said were mobilised through the Federal Government’s fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms.
The opposition party said the government had recorded a significant increase in revenues since the reforms, while many households continued to struggle with rising food, transportation and other living costs.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said the reforms mobilised about N15.8 trillion for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
It said N5.4 trillion went to the Federal Government, N5.4 trillion to states and N3.9 trillion to local governments.
“Government is counting trillions while Nigerian families are counting the meals they can afford,” the party said.
The ADC also cited N47.25 trillion in Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to states between 2023 and 2025, saying the figure rose from N10.09 trillion in 2023 to N15.26 trillion in 2024 and N21.90 trillion in 2025.
According to the party, monthly FAAC allocations have since exceeded N2 trillion, compared with less than N1 trillion before the removal of fuel subsidy.
The opposition party, however, argued that the increased revenues had not translated into improved living conditions for many Nigerians.
It said petrol prices rose from about N185 per litre in May 2023 to over N1,300 in some locations by August 2025, while food inflation had at some points exceeded 40 per cent and transportation costs had also increased.
The party added that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) mass-transit alternative promised by the government had not been deployed on the scale required to significantly cushion the impact of higher petrol prices.
“Before asking Nigerians for four more years, Senator Yari and the APC must answer one question: after N15.8 trillion in additional resources, record FAAC allocations and three years of unprecedented sacrifice, are Nigerians better off?” it asked.
The ADC also questioned why some states continued to borrow despite receiving increased allocations, citing reports that about 20 states borrowed N458 billion in 2025.
“After N47.25 trillion to states in three years, Nigerians have a right to ask: where are the results?” the party said, challenging governments to account for projects such as schools, hospitals, roads and mass-transit systems funded with the additional resources.
It also criticised the government over alleged unpaid contractors, unimplemented budgets and deteriorating roads, arguing that increased workers’ salaries alone could not guarantee improved living conditions.
The party linked the economic hardship to what it described as worsening insecurity and poverty.
“The big lie is in government telling Nigerians that its reforms are working while driving the country towards certain destruction,” it alleged.
On transportation costs, the ADC questioned why, according to it, the government had taken more than three years to develop an effective strategy to reduce the burden on commuters ahead of the 2027 elections.
“If Senator Yari says subsidy can never return, then he must tell Nigerians what the President’s campaign is offering instead. What is the plan to dramatically reduce petrol prices and bring down food and transportation costs before 2027? ‘Endure’ is not an economic policy,” the party said.
The ADC stressed that it was not advocating a return to the former fuel subsidy regime, which it described as corrupt and opaque.
Instead, it said its proposed alternative would focus on expanding domestic refining capacity, supported by targeted and transparent interventions aimed at lowering fuel prices and reducing the cost of living.
“The 2027 election will not be about who shouted ‘liar’ the loudest. It will be about who can put food on Nigerians’ tables, create jobs, provide security, and reduce the cost of living. Nigerians have sacrificed enough. They need a break,” the party said.
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