Presidency, Makinde Clash Over Alleged ₦9trn NLNG Dividend Shortfall
The Presidency and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, have clashed over his allegation that the Federal Government is withholding ₦250 billion in Nigeria LNG (NLNG) dividends for each state, with both sides offering conflicting accounts of the funds. In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Presidency dismissed Makinde’s claim as false, arguing that ₦250 billion for each of the 36 states would amount to ₦9 trillion, excluding the Federal Government, the Federal Capital Territory and the 774 local government areas. It said states receive 26.72 per cent of distributable Federation Account revenue and that NLNG had paid approximately $21.5 billion in dividends to the Federation over 25 years, with less than $3 billion realised since President Bola Tinubu assumed office. The Presidency argued that the company had never paid $25 billion in a single dividend payout and urged the public to disregard the governor’s allegation. Makinde, who is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, had claimed at a 2027 budget stakeholders’ engagement in Ibadan that the funds were being withheld until after the 2027 elections.
Makinde’s camp has rejected the Presidency’s response, insisting that a reconciliation exercise conducted by a consultant engaged by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, with Federal Government support, identified an alleged ₦9 trillion shortfall owed to states and local governments. In a statement issued through his Special Adviser on Media, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, the governor challenged the government to explain how NLNG dividend payments were distributed and provide details of the amounts received and disbursed. The Makinde-Daura Campaign Organisation, through its Director of Communications, Richard Nnanna Ihediwa, also called on the Presidency to publish relevant dividend receipts, Federation Account Allocation Committee decisions and official communications showing the sums approved for distribution and the timing of payments. The campaign maintained that the company’s cumulative dividend payments over 25 years did not settle the question of whether specific funds had been withheld. It also accused the Tinubu administration of running what it described as a “voodoo economy”. The Presidency has denied withholding the alleged funds, while the competing claims over the reconciliation report and distribution of the dividends remain central to the dispute.
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