The Presidency has dismissed Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s claim that the Federal Government withheld more than ₦250 billion in Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividends meant for each state of the federation.
The Presidency, through Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, described the governor’s allegation as false and urged Nigerians to disregard it. The rebuttal followed Makinde’s remarks that the Federal Government had spent NLNG dividend funds without distributing the states’ respective shares.
Makinde had made the allegation during a stakeholders’ consultative engagement on Oyo State’s 2027 budget at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan. He claimed that each state was entitled to more than ₦250 billion after a reconciliation of the amounts due from NLNG dividend payments.
However, the Presidency challenged the financial basis of Makinde’s claim, arguing that NLNG had never paid $25 billion in dividends into the Federation Account in a single transaction. It maintained that the figure being claimed as outstanding for each state was inconsistent with the company’s historical dividend payments to the federation.
The disagreement has brought renewed attention to the management and distribution of public revenues, with the two sides presenting conflicting positions on the alleged NLNG dividend payments and the amounts due to state governments.
Further clarification on the underlying figures and the status of any outstanding payments would be necessary to resolve the dispute.