By Myke Uzendu
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, to explain what Nigerians have gained from the additional revenues generated by the removal of fuel subsidy and foreign exchange reforms before dismissing proposals for relief as a “lie.”
The party, in a statement issued on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said Yari’s position was significant because he was not speaking merely as an APC senator but as the official responsible for persuading Nigerians to give President Bola Ahmed Tinubu another four-year mandate.
The ADC said figures attributed to the Minister of Finance indicated that the removal of petrol subsidy and foreign exchange reforms generated about N15.8 trillion in additional resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
It said about N5.4 trillion of the amount went to the Federal Government, another N5.4 trillion to state governments and N3.9 trillion to local governments.
The opposition party further claimed that states received about N47.25 trillion in Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributions between 2023 and 2025, with allocations rising from N10.09 trillion in 2023 to N15.26 trillion in 2024 and N21.90 trillion in 2025.
According to the ADC, monthly FAAC allocations have since exceeded N2 trillion, compared with less than N1 trillion before the subsidy removal.
It, however, argued that the increase in government revenues had not translated into improved living conditions for Nigerians.
“The contradiction is impossible to ignore,” the party said. “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?”
The ADC said petrol prices had risen from about N185 per litre in May 2023 to more than N1,300 in many locations by August 2025, while food inflation had exceeded 40 per cent at points during the period.
It also said transportation costs had surged, while the compressed natural gas (CNG) mass-transit alternative promised by the Federal Government had not been deployed on the scale required to provide significant relief.
The party challenged Yari and the APC to tell Nigerians whether they were better off after three years of what it described as “unprecedented sacrifice” and increased government revenues.
