Subsidy: ‘APC govt counting trillions while Nigerians become poorer,’ ADC knocks Yari

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, Director-General of the President’s re-election campaign, to explain what Nigerians have gained from the N15.8 trillion generated by fuel subsidy removal before dismissing promises of relief as a “lie.”

Reacting on Sunday through its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ADC said Yari’s position was significant because he is now charged with persuading Nigerians to give President Tinubu another four years.

“If the message of the President’s re-election campaign is that Nigerians must accept today’s hardship as permanent and anyone promising relief is a liar, then Nigerians must be seriously concerned,” the party said.

Citing figures attributed to the Minister of Finance, the ADC said petrol subsidy removal and foreign-exchange reforms generated about N15.8 trillion in additional resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025. Of this, N5.4 trillion went to the Federal Government, N5.4 trillion to states and N3.9 trillion to local governments.

The party noted that states alone received N47.25 trillion in FAAC allocations between 2023 and 2025, rising from N10.09 trillion in 2023 to N15.26 trillion in 2024 and N21.90 trillion in 2025. 

Monthly FAAC distributions have also crossed N2 trillion, compared with less than N1 trillion before subsidy removal.

“Yet, while government revenues soared, Nigerians became poorer,” the ADC said.

Petrol, the party added, moved from about N185 per litre in May 2023 to N1,300+ in many places by August 2025, while food inflation crossed 40 per cent at points during the period. Transport costs surged, and the promised CNG mass-transit alternative is yet to reach Nigerians at the required scale.

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“The contradiction is impossible to ignore,” the ADC said. “Government is counting trillions while Nigerian families are counting the meals they can afford. If governments are receiving substantially more money, why are Nigerians getting substantially less food to eat?”

‘Where are the results?’

The opposition party asked Senator Yari and the APC to answer one question before seeking re-election: “after N15.8 trillion in additional resources, record FAAC allocations and three years of unprecedented sacrifice, are Nigerians better off?”

The ADC said it was more troubling that increased revenues had led to increased borrowing, with about 20 states reportedly borrowing N458 billion in 2025 despite the surge in FAAC receipts.

“After N47.25 trillion to states in three years, Nigerians have a right to ask: where are the results? If states received an additional N5.4 trillion from the reforms, let the government publish the projects. Show Nigerians the schools, hospitals, roads, and mass-transit systems that their sacrifice paid for,” the party stated.

The ADC described it as “disgraceful” that the only thing the APC government has to show for trillions of naira is payment of workers’ salaries that can no longer guarantee food on the table.

“Meanwhile, budgets remain unimplemented, local contractors remain unpaid, major public roads remain terrible, and Nigeria became one of the most dangerous places to live in, and home to the highest number of poor people on earth,” the statement said. 

“The big lie is in government telling Nigerians that its reforms are working while driving the country towards certain destruction.”

What is the alternative?

The party also challenged the President’s campaign to explain its plan to reduce the cost of transportation ahead of 2027.

“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 ADC said.

The party stressed it was not advocating a return to the corruption and opacity of the old subsidy regime. 

Instead, it said its alternative would prioritise domestic refining with targeted and transparent support aimed at lowering fuel prices and 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,” the ADC said.

“Nigerians have sacrificed enough. They need a break.”