Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of clandestinely diverting public funds through secret fuel subsidy payments.

In a statement released on Thursday, Abubakar expressed concerns over the lack of transparency and the administration’s refusal to disclose the amounts being spent on subsidies, which he claims is detrimental to attracting investments in Nigeria’s oil sector.

Abubakar criticized the Tinubu administration for maintaining a secretive fuel subsidy regime, alleging that this approach is a continuation of the opaque governance style Tinubu employed while managing Lagos State. He emphasized the need for transparency and accountability, particularly given Tinubu’s dual role as President and Petroleum Minister.

“Tinubu has brought the shady nature of running Lagos to the federal level. He claims subsidy is gone, but his Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen, says they are intervening from time to time, while his Finance Minister, Wale Edun, described subsidy removal as an ‘ongoing process’,” Abubakar stated.

He further pointed to a document authored by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy detailing subsidy payments, which has since been disavowed by its authors, as evidence of the administration’s duplicity.

Despite public declarations that fuel subsidies have been removed, reports from both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicate that Nigeria continues to pay petrol subsidies. Abubakar highlighted these reports to underline the ongoing subsidy payments, noting that this contradiction undermines the administration’s credibility.

A leaked document surfaced earlier this week, revealing that the Nigerian government not only paid subsidies last year but has also allocated over N5 trillion for subsidies in 2024. The document projects that “At current rates, expenditure on fuel subsidy is projected to reach N5.4trillion by the end of 2024. This compares unfavourably with N3.6 trillion in 2023 and N2.0 trillion in 2022.”

This document casts doubt on the administration’s public stance and raises questions about the transparency of its financial practices. The leak has fueled suspicions that public funds are being diverted without proper accountability.

“For a man who claims to be on a mission to attract foreign direct investment, it is ironic that he cannot see that his policy flip flops and lies are capable of dissuading investors. He must come clean on this subsidy issue since he doubles as petroleum minister,” Abubakar argued. He called on the Tinubu administration to be forthright about its policies and their outcomes, stressing the need for transparency and accountability to the Nigerian public.

Abubakar further accused the administration of diverting funds meant for the Federation Account, which should be shared with states and local governments, without accountability. He urged the National Assembly to investigate the matter thoroughly instead of focusing on trivial issues, emphasizing their responsibility for oversight and warning that history would judge them harshly if they failed to act.

“The National Assembly needs to be alive to its responsibilities, especially in the area of oversight. Posterity will not be kind to members of the National Assembly if they continue to look the other way while daylight robbery is taking place,” Abubakar concluded.

The accusations by Atiku Abubakar bring to the forefront ongoing concerns about transparency and governance in Nigeria, highlighting the critical need for clear and accountable management of public resources.

The apparent contradictions between the administration’s public statements and the actual financial practices revealed by international reports and leaked documents are believed to underline a level of insincerity capable of spooking investment interests in Nigeria.