By Lateef Ibrahim
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, Director-General of the President’s re-election campaign, to explain what Nigerians have gained from the trillions of naira generated by fuel subsidy removal before dismissing promises of relief as a “lie.”
The ADC said this in a statement on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi in Abuja.
The party said Yari’s comments were particularly significant because he is not speaking merely as an APC Senator, but as the man charged with persuading Nigerians to give the president another four years.
“If the message of the President’s re-election campaign is that Nigerians must accept today’s hardship as permanent and anyone promising relief is a liar, then Nigerians must be seriously concerned,” the ADC said.
According to figures attributed to the Minister of Finance, petrol subsidy removal and foreign-exchange reforms generated about N15.8 trillion in additional resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
Of this, about N5.4 trillion went to the Federal Government, N5.4 trillion to states and N3.9 trillion to local governments.
States alone reportedly received N47.25 trillion in FAAC allocations between 2023 and 2025, rising from N10.09 trillion in 2023 to N15.26 trillion in 2024 and N21.90 trillion in 2025.
Monthly FAAC distributions have since crossed N2 trillion, compared with less than N1 trillion around the period before subsidy removal.
Yet, while government revenues soared, Nigerians became poorer.
Petrol moved from about N185 per litre in May 2023 to N1,300+ in many places by August 2025, while food inflation crossed 40 per cent at points during the period.
Transport costs surged, and the promised CNG mass-transit alternative has yet to reach Nigerians at the scale required.
“The contradiction is impossible to ignore,” the ADC said, adding, “Government is counting trillions while Nigerian families are counting the meals they can afford.
“If governments are receiving substantially more money, why are Nigerians getting substantially less food to eat?
“Before asking Nigerians for four more years, Senator Yari and the APC must answer one question: after N15.8 trillion in additional resources, record FAAC allocations and three years of unprecedented sacrifice, are Nigerians better off?
The party said the situation was even more troubling because increased revenues appeared to have led only to increased government borrowing.
About 20 states reportedly borrowed N458 billion in 2025 despite the surge in FAAC receipts.
“After N47.25 trillion to states in three years, Nigerians have a right to ask: where are the results?
“If states received an additional N5.4 trillion from the reforms, let the government publish the projects.
“Show Nigerians the schools, hospitals, roads, and mass-transit systems that their sacrifice paid for.
The ADC says it finds it “disgraceful” that the only thing that the APC government has to show for trillions of naira is payment of workers’ salaries that can no longer guarantee food on the table.
“Meanwhile, budgets remain unimplemented, local contractors remain unpaid, major public roads remain terrible, and Nigeria became one of the most dangerous places to live in, and home to the highest number of poor people on earth.
“The big lie is in government telling Nigerians that its reforms are working while driving the country towards certain destruction.”
The party then challenged the President’s campaign to explain why it has taken the APC government more than three years and a few months to elections to realise the need to make plans for reducing the cost of transportation.
It added that “If Senator Yari says subsidy can never return, then he must tell Nigerians what the President’s campaign is offering instead.
“What is the plan to dramatically reduce petrol prices and bring down food and transportation costs before 2027? ‘Endure’ is not an economic policy.”
The ADC stressed that it was not advocating a return to the corruption and opacity associated with the old subsidy regime.
The party explained that its alternative would prioritise domestic refining with targeted and transparent support aimed at lowering the price of fuel and reducing the cost of living for Nigerians.
“The 2027 election will not be about who shouted ‘liar’ the loudest. It will be about who can put food on Nigerians’ tables, create jobs, provide security, and reduce the cost of living.
“Nigerians have sacrificed enough. They need a break,” the party concludes.
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