The Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics Ltd/GTE, Dele Oye, has alleged that the Federal Government’s N17.5 trillion debt to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) represents a disguised fuel subsidy, despite the government’s repeated insistence that the subsidy regime ended in 2023.
Oye, a former President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and immediate past President of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), made the assertion in a statement on Thursday while reacting to NNPC’s 2024 audited financial statements.
According to him, the liabilities, recorded as energy security expenses, under-recovery claims and other receivables, indicate that the financial burden of fuel subsidy has merely been reclassified rather than eliminated.
He argued that Nigeria is currently operating what he described as “the most expensive subsidy programme in its history,” adding that the government’s declaration of subsidy removal on May 29, 2023, did not end the practice but shifted it into an accounting arrangement that continues to weigh heavily on public finances.
Oye cited figures from NNPC’s 2024 financial statements, which show that the federation owes the national oil company about N17.5 trillion. He said the amount comprises N7.13 trillion classified as energy security expenses, N8.67 trillion recorded as under-recovery claims and N8.84 trillion listed as other receivables from the federation.
He noted that the debt nearly doubled from the N9.36 trillion reported in 2023, raising concerns over transparency, fiscal accountability and the implementation of Nigeria’s petroleum reforms.
While acknowledging that NNPC posted a record profit after tax of N5.4 trillion in 2024, representing a 64 per cent increase from the previous year, Oye questioned how the company could report such earnings while simultaneously carrying almost N18 trillion in outstanding obligations owed by the federal government.
The business leader also criticised the continued importation of petroleum products despite the commencement of operations at the 650,000-barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery, saying the situation contradicts Nigeria’s drive for energy security and self-sufficiency.
He maintained that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was enacted to promote transparency, accountability and commercial efficiency in the oil and gas sector, stressing that the current arrangement undermines those objectives.
Oye called on the Federal Government to conduct a comprehensive forensic audit of all energy security expenses, under-recovery claims and related obligations, insisting that Nigerians deserve full disclosure on the financial liabilities accumulated in the name of fuel supply and energy security.
