APM Campaign Group Challenges Presidency on N250bn NLNG Funds

The Allied Peoples Movement Presidential Campaign Organisation has taken issue with the Presidency's denial that the Federal Government is holding back N250bn in Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas dividends meant for states.

In a statement on Sunday, Richard Nnanna Ihediwa, the organisation’s Director of Strategic Communications, urged the Tinubu government to release financial records to clear up this issue.

Last week, during the 2027 Budget Stakeholders’ Consultative Engagement at the Olola Ogunlana Hall, International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Governor Seyi Makinde claimed that the Federal Government was withholding ₦250bn in Nigeria LNG dividends allocated to each state. He also said that the funds will not be released until after the 2027 general elections.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, responded in a statement on Sunday. He called Makinde’s claim false and said, “it should be disregarded.”

Onanuga stated, “Makinde’s latest claim that the Federal Government is withholding the NLNG dividend windfall is false and should be disregarded.” The statement explained that giving ₦250bn to each of the 36 states in one payment would total ₦9tn. This amount does not include allocations to the Federal Government, the FCT, and the 774 local governments.

The statement also mentioned that, according to the Federation Account Allocation Committee’s revenue-sharing formula, states get 26.72 percent of the distributable revenue. Because of this, the statement suggested that the 36 states could only receive ₦250bn if NLNG declared dividends over ₦33.68tn, which is about $25bn, in one payment.

In response, the Makinde Campaign Organisation argued that bringing up NLNG’s total dividend payments from the last 25 years does not answer the specific allegations. They insisted that only the right financial records could show how much was received during that time and whether any funds had been delayed or withheld.

The organisation said, “The attention of the Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organization has been drawn to the lame attempt by the Tinubu Presidency to evade the core issues raised by the Presidential Candidate of the Allied People’s Movement and Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde, that the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas dividend accruable to states is being withheld by the Tinubu-led Federal Government.

“Instead of coming clean on why the fund is withheld, the Tinubu Presidency, in its characteristic resort to lies, falsehood, distortions and propaganda, left the issue unaddressed and played around with unsupported figures in a bid to hoodwink Nigerians and divert public attention from this constitutional violation and assault on the states.

“If the Tinubu Presidency claims that Engr. Makinde is wrong in his assertion that N250 billion in NLNG dividends meant for states is being withheld, we challenge President Tinubu to directly tell Nigerians if the said dividends have been paid to the states rather than resorting to personal attacks on the APM presidential candidate.

The organisation went on to say that the Presidency should clarify the total dividends paid by NLNG during the period in question. They also want to know how much was sent to the Federation Account and what amount was approved for distribution to the states.

They said, “We therefore challenge the Presidency to publish the relevant NLNG dividend receipts, Federation Account Allocation Committee decisions and official communications establishing the amounts received, the sums approved for distribution and the timing of the proposed payments to states.

“Nigerians deserve clear answers to three fundamental questions: how much did NLNG pay in dividends during the period under discussion, and what amount was credited to the Federation Account? They need to know how much was approved for distribution to the states.

“Invoking NLNG’s cumulative dividend payments in the last 25 years does not answer these questions. Historical totals cannot, by themselves, establish the amount received during a specific period and the sum available for distribution. They do not answer whether a particular payment was proposed, approved, received, delayed or withheld. Those questions can only be settled by the relevant financial records.

“If the Presidency’s argument is that allocating ₦250 billion to each of the 36 states would amount to ₦9 trillion, a sum NLNG has never paid as a single dividend, as it alleged, that calculation does not resolve the matter. The question is not whether ₦9 trillion was ever paid in a single transaction, but the amount that is actually under discussion, as can be established by the official records.