A fresh dispute has erupted between the Presidency and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde over Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) dividends, with the governor standing by his claim that states and local governments are being denied billions of naira while the Federal Government insists the figures do not add up.
The disagreement followed Makinde’s remarks at the 2027 Budget Stakeholders’ Consultative Engagement in Ibadan, where he said each state was expected to receive ₦250 billion from NLNG dividends but that the funds would not be released until after the 2027 general elections.
Makinde said the expected funds had already been factored into development plans in Oyo State.
“Each state was supposed to get ₦250 billion. We had already identified projects that would expand Oyo State’s economy. But they have now said the money will not be paid until after the election. Is the election more important than the people of Nigeria?” he said.
The Presidency, however, rejected the claim, describing it as false and urging Nigerians to disregard it.
In a statement on Sunday, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, argued that ₦250 billion for each of the 36 states would amount to ₦9 trillion, before taking into account the Federal Government, the Federal Capital Territory and the 774 local government areas.
He said states receive 26.72 per cent of distributable Federation Account revenue under the Federation Account Allocation Committee formula.
Consequently, according to the Presidency, a states-only distribution of ₦9 trillion would require more than ₦33.68 trillion, or about $25 billion, to have been paid into the Federation Account as a single NLNG dividend declaration.
Onanuga maintained that NLNG had never paid such an amount in a single dividend payout.
The Presidency further said NLNG had paid approximately $21.5 billion in dividends to the Federation over the past 25 years, with less than $3 billion received since Tinubu assumed office.
It therefore argued that the claim of a single dividend windfall capable of producing ₦250 billion for each state was inconsistent with the historical figures.
But Makinde’s office has rejected the Presidency’s explanation, insisting that it failed to address the central issue behind the dispute.
In a counter-statement signed by the governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, the governor said the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), with the support of the Federal Government, had engaged a consultant to reconcile NLNG dividend payments.
According to Olanrewaju, the reconciliation exercise identified a shortfall of about ₦9 trillion due to states and local governments.
He said the Federal Government had accepted the findings and that the report remained in the custody of both the Federal Government and the NGF.
Makinde’s camp challenged the Presidency to address the reconciliation report rather than focus solely on the governor’s reference to ₦250 billion per state.
It also questioned what happened to the NLNG dividends the Presidency said had been received by the Federation.
“The Presidency stated that NLNG had paid $21.5 billion in dividends into the Federation Account since inception, including $3 billion received under the current administration. But it did not explain how these funds were disbursed,” the statement said.
The governor’s office consequently asked whether states and local governments had received their respective shares, how much they received, how the figures were calculated and what happened to the approximately $3 billion said to have been received under the Tinubu administration.
Makinde is currently the vice-chairman of the NGF, a position his media aide referenced while defending the governor’s claim concerning the reconciliation exercise.
The latest exchange has consequently shifted the controversy from whether ₦250 billion is due to each state to a broader question of how NLNG dividend payments into the Federation Account were reconciled and subsequently distributed among the three tiers of government.
The Presidency has maintained that Makinde’s interpretation is economically implausible, while the governor’s office insists that the government should publish or explain the reconciliation figures it says established the ₦9 trillion shortfall.
The dispute also comes against the backdrop of the 2027 political contest, with Makinde already emerging as the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement.
Onanuga accused the governor of making misleading statements in pursuit of his presidential ambition and urged him to avoid what the Presidency described as falsehoods and disinformation.
Makinde’s media office, however, said the governor “does not make unfounded claims or quote figures without a basis” and urged the Presidency to address the substance of the NLNG dividend issue.
