Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, also the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), reiterated his allegation that the federal government is withholding a N250 billion dividend windfall from Nigeria LNG (NLNG) for each of the 36 states, a sum he says will not be released until after the 2027 elections. Makinde claimed the funds were already earmarked for projects to expand Oyo’s economy and accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of prioritising the election over the people’s welfare.
The Presidency, through a statement from Special Adviser on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga, dismissed the claim as false and urged the public to disregard it. The statement noted that a one‑off distribution of N250 billion to each state would total N9 trillion, which would require NLNG to have paid more than N33.68 trillion (about $25 billion) in a single dividend – a figure the government says NLNG has never reached.
According to the Presidency, NLNG has paid approximately $21.5 billion in dividends to the Federation Account over the past 25 years, with less than $3 billion realised since President Tinubu took office. Under the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) formula, states receive 26.72 percent of the distributable revenue, meaning the alleged N250 billion per state would far exceed the company’s total lifetime payouts.
Makinde’s campaign organization, the Makinde‑Daura Campaign Organisation, responded by challenging the federal government to explain how NLNG dividends have been allocated. The governor’s media adviser, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, cited a reconciliation exercise commissioned by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and supported by the federal government, which allegedly identified a shortfall of about N9 trillion owed to states and local governments.
The statement from Makinde’s team asserted that the reconciliation report is in the custody of both the NGF and the federal government and that the Presidency has accepted its findings. The governor’s aide also questioned the Presidency’s figures, arguing that the claim of $21.5 billion in total dividends – including $3 billion under the current administration – does not account for the purported shortfall.
In its response, the Presidency warned that Makinde’s repeated “misleading claims” undermine public confidence and urged him to adopt a more measured tone in his campaign. The federal government maintained that no single NLNG dividend payout has ever approached the N250 billion per‑state figure and that the allegations lack factual basis.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
