By Seun Ibiyemi
Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has challenged the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to publish a detailed account of federation revenues, deductions, savings and transfers since June 2023.
Atiku made the demand following the release of the July 2026 Federation Account figures, which he said had raised fresh concerns over the management of public funds, particularly revenues associated with the removal of petroleum and energy subsidies.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president said his earlier reconciliation of publicly available Federation Account figures had identified about N28 trillion requiring explanation as of June 2026.
He said the July figures had pushed the cumulative amount requiring transparent reconciliation to nearly N30 trillion.
Atiku challenged the Federal Government to publish a comprehensive ledger if it disputed his calculations.
“The question President Tinubu must answer remains painfully simple: Where is the money?” he said.
According to the July figures cited by Atiku, gross statutory revenue stood at N4.359 trillion, while the Federation Account Allocation Committee approved N3.007 trillion for distribution among the Federal Government, 36 states and 774 local government areas.
The ADC presidential candidate questioned the deductions made from federation revenues before funds were distributed to the three tiers of government.
He said the government should provide details of the amounts deducted, the beneficiaries, purposes, dates, destinations and legal authority for every deduction.
“Our reconciliation previously identified approximately N28 trillion requiring explanation up to June 2026. July shows that the pattern has continued,” Atiku said.
“The cumulative amount of Federation revenues, deductions, savings, transfers and related funds requiring transparent reconciliation is now approaching N30 trillion.
“If the Tinubu administration disputes that figure, the answer is not another press statement. Publish the ledger.”
Atiku Questions Subsidy Savings
Atiku also demanded an account of the financial savings and additional revenues generated since the removal of petroleum and energy subsidies.
He recalled that Nigerians were asked to endure the economic hardship associated with the reforms on the assurance that the resulting savings and additional revenues would ultimately be deployed for national development.
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He therefore questioned how the funds had been utilised and whether they had been transferred, spent or retained in government accounts.
“The savings and additional revenues generated by these reforms belong to the Nigerian people,” he said.
The former vice-president also questioned the continued reliance on borrowing despite claims of increased government revenues and savings.
“If these trillions genuinely exist as savings, where are they and why is Nigeria borrowing so aggressively?” he asked.
Atiku called for a month-by-month and beneficiary-by-beneficiary reconciliation of federation revenues from June 2023 to date.
He argued that transparency required government to open its financial records rather than rely solely on accounting classifications to explain large sums.
“Transparency is not achieved by attaching convenient accounting labels to trillions of naira. It is achieved by opening the books,” he said.
Atiku maintained that Nigerians who had endured the impact of the government’s economic reforms deserved a clear account of how public revenues had been managed.
He said publishing the requested ledger would help establish where the approximately N30 trillion went and strengthen public confidence in the management of federation resources.
