The Presidency has challenged Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to provide evidence for his claim that the Federal Government is withholding ₦250bn in Nigeria LNG (NLNG) dividends due to each state until after the 2027 general election.
In a statement on Sunday, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the allegation as false, arguing that the amount claimed was inconsistent with NLNG’s historical dividend payments to the Federation.
Makinde had made the claim on Friday at the 2027 Budget Stakeholders’ Consultative Engagement at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, where he alleged that the Federal Government had delayed the release of the funds until after the election.
The governor, who is the presidential candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) in the 2027 election, said his administration had identified projects that would expand Oyo State’s economy but could not proceed as planned because of the alleged delay.
However, Onanuga said a one-off payment of ₦250bn to each of the 36 states would amount to ₦9tn, excluding the Federal Government, the Federal Capital Territory and the 774 local government areas.
He explained that under the Federation Account Allocation Committee revenue-sharing formula, states receive 26.72 per cent of distributable Federation Account revenue.
According to the Presidency, for the states’ share alone to reach ₦9tn, NLNG would have had to pay more than ₦33.68tn, equivalent to about $25bn, into the Federation Account in a single dividend declaration.
The statement maintained that NLNG had never made such a payment.
It added that the company had paid approximately $21.5bn in dividends to the Federation over the past 25 years, with less than $3bn realised since Tinubu assumed office.
Onanuga argued that the claim of a single dividend payment exceeding the company’s entire historical distribution to the Federation was inconsistent with the available figures.
He urged the public to disregard Makinde’s allegation and accused the governor of making misleading statements since declaring his presidential ambition.
The Presidency also recalled Makinde’s previous description of the substantial inflows from the Federation Account to states, including Oyo, as “voodoo”.
It said the governor was free to pursue his presidential ambition but should avoid what it described as falsehoods and disinformation during his campaign.
The Federal Government owns 49 per cent of NLNG.
In July, the company’s chief executive officer, Adeleye Falade, said NLNG had paid $47.2bn in dividends to all its shareholders, including the Federal Government, from revenue of $149.6bn since operations began.
NLNG’s figures also showed that annual payments to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, its government shareholder, stood at $1.39bn in 2014, $722.44m in 2021 and $1.10bn in 2022.
Meanwhile, the 36 states reportedly received ₦4.83tn from the Federation Account between January and June, with Oyo State receiving ₦147.32bn during the period.
Makinde declared his presidential ambition on May 14 at a rally in Ibadan under the APM, following the party’s alliance with a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Kabiru Turaki.
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