The Presidency has dismissed as false Governor Seyi Makinde’s claim that the Federal Government is withholding N250 billion in Nigeria LNG dividends due to each state until after the 2027 elections. In a statement on Sunday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the figures do not align with Nigeria’s revenue-sharing formula or NLNG’s payment history.
Makinde, the Oyo State governor and presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, made the claim on Friday at the 2027 Budget Stakeholders’ Consultative Engagement in Ibadan. He said each state was entitled to N250 billion and that projects had already been identified in Oyo before the government said the money would not be paid until after the election. “Is the election more important than the people of Nigeria?” the governor asked.
Onanuga countered that a one-off distribution of N250 billion to each of the 36 states would amount to N9 trillion, excluding the Federal Government, the Federal Capital Territory and the 774 local councils. Under the Federation Account Allocation Committee formula, states receive 26.72 per cent of distributable revenue. For the states’ share alone to reach N9 trillion, total NLNG dividends paid into the Federation Account would have to exceed N33.68 trillion, or about $25 billion, in a single declaration.
The Presidency said NLNG has never paid $25 billion in dividends in a single payout. It said the company has paid approximately $21.5 billion into the Federation Account over the last 25 years, with less than $3 billion realised since President Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023. “Any claim that a single payout exceeds the company’s entire lifetime distribution to the Federation, and is being withheld, defies basic logic and economic reality,” Onanuga said.
Makinde’s media aide, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, responded that the Presidency had sidestepped the central issue. He said the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, with Federal Government support, engaged a consultant to reconcile NLNG dividend payments and that the exercise identified a shortfall of about N9 trillion due to states and local governments. Olanrewaju said the Federal Government accepted the findings and that the report remains in the custody of both the government and the NGF. He also asked how much states and local governments had received and how the funds were distributed.
The exchange rests on a long-running dispute over how NLNG dividends are remitted and shared. The Federation holds a 49 per cent stake in NLNG through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and the dividends are supposed to flow into the Federation Account for distribution among the three tiers of government. Questions over the completeness of those remittances have surfaced repeatedly, including in parliamentary inquiries and past reports on withheld payments.
The political context is the 2027 presidential election, in which Makinde is challenging President Tinubu. Makinde declared his candidacy under the APM in May 2026 and has since campaigned on the cost of living and fiscal accountability. The Presidency said the governor has chosen to play politics with misleading claims rather than present verifiable facts, and urged the public to disregard the allegation.
The dispute has not been settled by the statements. The Presidency has not published the payment records Makinde’s camp is demanding, and the governor’s side has not released the NGF reconciliation report it says exists. What is clear is that the argument over NLNG dividends has become part of the wider fight over public finances and accountability ahead of the election.