A row over the dividends paid by Nigeria LNG (NLNG) has turned into one of the sharpest exchanges between the Presidency and an opposition candidate this campaign season.
The claim
Speaking at the 2027 Budget Stakeholders’ Consultative Engagement in Ibadan on Friday 16 October 2026, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, now the Allied People’s Movement (APM) presidential candidate, said federal officials had collected NLNG dividends that belonged partly to the states, paid them into the Federation Account and spent them without passing on the states’ shares. He put the amount owed to each state at more than ₦250 billion, said the figures had already been reconciled, and claimed payment had been pushed back until after the 2027 elections.
The Presidency’s reply
On Sunday 18 October, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, called the claim false and set out the arithmetic:
- States receive 26.72% of distributable Federation Account revenue under the revenue-sharing formula.
- ₦250 billion for each of 36 states would come to about ₦9 trillion.
- For the states’ share alone to reach that, NLNG would have to pay more than ₦33.68 trillion (about $25 billion) in a single dividend declaration.
- NLNG has paid about $21.5 billion to the Federation over 25 years, Onanuga said, and less than $3 billion since Tinubu took office.
Oyo hits back
A day later, Makinde’s media adviser, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said the figure came from a reconciliation exercise carried out for the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, where Makinde is vice-chairman, with federal support, which found a shortfall of about ₦9 trillion owed to states and local governments. He asked the Presidency to say how the dividends received under Tinubu were shared and to publish the reconciliation report. “What happened to the $3 billion received under this administration?” the statement asked.
What we know
Neither side has published a transaction-by-transaction account, so the dispute cannot yet be settled on the evidence. The figures above are each side’s own.
