OGUN State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has said governors, rather than President Bola Tinubu, should account for how the gains from the removal of petrol subsidy are being spent.
News Point Nigeria reports that Abiodun said state governors are better placed to explain the utilisation of the gains because the funds have increased allocations to states, which he said have been used to finance infrastructural projects.
Abiodun spoke on Thursday during a rally held by the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Dipo Dina International Stadium in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
He said governors should be the ones to explain what has been done with the funds, stressing that it was the state governments that receive the increased allocations arising from the subsidy removal.
“They said they want to return the subsidy. Are they mad? They were asking our leader to explain what he did with subsidy removal gains,” he said in Yoruba.
“It is we (governors) that should make such explanations because it is we, state governors, that collect the money.
“Besides, what have we been using to build roads, schools, provide good housing and incentives for farmers? Isn’t it from subsidy?”
Abiodun also dismissed the opposition’s chances in the 2027 elections, boasting that the APC would defeat its rivals.
“Go and tell your people that all of them are not up to one. We will defeat them mercilessly,” he said.
The debate over the gains from petrol subsidy removal has intensified in recent weeks, with opposition politicians, including Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), criticising the Tinubu administration over its handling of the funds saved from the removal of the subsidy.
Atiku has vowed to restore the subsidy if elected, arguing that the Tinubu administration has failed to account for the savings generated from its removal.
Tinubu, however, dismissed Atiku’s proposal as evidence of “serious ignorance of governance and economy”, arguing that some states struggled to pay salaries and pensions before he assumed office.
On August 19, Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said the removal of the petrol subsidy had mobilised N15.8 trillion for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025.