Presidency Chides Makinde, Says ₦250bn NLNG Claim False, Defies Logic

● Turn Fact Not Falsehood To Campaign Tool m; What Bayo Onanuga instructed Oyo Governor

The Presidency has dismissed as false and deceptive Governor Seyi Makinde’s declare that the Federal Government is withholding ₦250 billion in NLNG dividends meant for every state of the Federation.

In a strongly worded State House Press Statement issued on Saturday, October 18, 2026, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, mentioned the governor’s declare ought to be disregarded.

Governor Makinde had made the allegation on the 2027 Budget Stakeholders’ Consultative Engagement held on the Olola Ogunlana Hall, International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, on Friday.

“Each state was supposed to get ₦250 billion. We had already identified projects that would expand Oyo State’s economy. But they have now said the money will not be paid until after the election. Is the election more important than the people of Nigeria?” Makinde was quoted as saying, alleging additional that the Federal Government had already spent the cash.

READ ALSO:

NDLEA Intercepts N6.98bn Tramadol Shipment, Arrests 85-Year-Old Woman

Lagos Airport Rail Project Financing Talks At Advanced Stage – FAAN MD

$2.4bn Subsidy Fraud Probe Triggered My Mother’s Kidnap, Okonjo-Iweala Recounts Ordeal

Supreme Court Handles 2,456 Cases In 2025/2026 Legal Year — CJN

Zelensky Challenges Trump, Says Ukrainians Will Decide Their Next President

But the Presidency mentioned the figures merely don’t add up and the declare collapses beneath primary arithmetic.

According to the assertion, whilst a one-off distribution, ₦250 billion to every of the 36 states alone quantities to ₦9.0 trillion, excluding the share for the Federal Government, the FCT, and the 774 native councils.

Under the Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, method, states obtain 26.72% of distributable Federation Account income. For the states’ share alone to hit ₦9 trillion, the Presidency defined, complete NLNG dividends paid into the Federation Account must exceed ₦33.68 trillion, about $25 billion, in a single declaration.

NLNG has by no means paid $25 billion in dividends to the Federation Account in a single payout in its historical past, Onanuga said.

Providing historic context, the Presidency disclosed that NLNG has paid roughly $21.5 billion in dividends to the Federation over the past 25 years, with lower than $3 billion realised since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed workplace.

“Therefore, 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,” the assertion mentioned.

The Presidency then took a swipe on the Oyo State governor’s latest political conduct, linking the declare to his presidential ambition.

“We expect Governor Makinde to be more measured in his public conduct and utterances. Since he embarked on his presidential bid, he has chosen to play politics by making misleading claims rather than presenting verifiable facts,” Onanuga mentioned.

He added that the governor has turned false, unguarded statements into an artwork type, recalling that Makinde as soon as described the massive monetary flows from the federation account to states, together with Oyo, as ‘voodoo’.

The assertion confused that beneath Nigerian regulation, Governor Makinde is free to pursue his presidential ambition however ought to desist from making falsehoods and disinformation the hallmarks of his marketing campaign.

The Presidency urged the general public to ignore what it referred to as unfounded claims, which serve solely to mislead residents and stoke pointless disaffection in opposition to the Federal authorities.

NOP NIGERIA