By Emmanuel Thomas l Thursday, July 23.2026
ABUJA — When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stood before the nation on May 29, 2023, declaring “subsidy is gone,” the public policy world marked it as a definitive break from decades of fiscal hemorrhage.
Three years on, financial disclosures reveal that Nigeria has not eliminated its petrol subsidy—it merely rebranded it.
According to a scathing analysis by Dele Oye, Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics Ltd/GTE, the Federal Government of Nigeria has accumulated a staggering ₦17.5 trillion liability owed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
Masked under corporate financial line items such as “energy security expenses,” “under-recovery claims,” and “other receivables,” this debt represents what industry analysts call the most expensive subsidy regime in the country’s history.
”A ₦17.5 trillion liability has been accumulated in the shadows, hidden behind accounting terminologies designed to obscure rather than illuminate. This is not energy security; it is fiscal capture—the systematic transfer of public wealth through mechanisms that evade democratic oversight.”
Accounting Illusion vs. Economic Reality
The controversy centres on NNPC’s 2024 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements. Rather than operating as an independent, commercially driven entity as envisioned under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021, NNPC continues to absorb the shock of retail pump price caps on behalf of the state.
Oye, who previously served as President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and President of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), argues that the declaration of subsidy removal simply shifted public obligations off the official ledger and onto a corporate balance sheet.:
Violation of PIA Intent: The Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 explicitly aimed to end state-driven market distortions and transform NNPC into a commercially viable, profit-driven entity. Using NNPC as an off-budget buffer undermines corporate governance principles established by the PIA.
Fiscal Contagion: Accumulating ₦17.5 trillion in unserviced state liabilities starves the state of foreign exchange reserves and net federation revenues, while simultaneously limiting NNPC’s capacity to invest in upstream oil and gas infrastructure.
Democratic Deficit: Because these claims bypass standard parliamentary budgeting processes under the guise of corporate receivables, they lack public and legislative oversight.
An Unsustainable Policy Crossroads
Nigeria’s attempt to maintain price stability through off-balance-sheet arrangements has created an unsustainable financial framework. Industry leaders note that calling market-interventions “energy security expenses” does not insulate public finances from the real economic costs of currency devaluation and international refined product prices.
Until the federal government aligns its public statements with market realities and transparent balance sheet reporting, the ₦17.5 trillion balance sheet liability stands as stark evidence: the burden was never lifted—it was simply given a new name.
