N7.98 Trillion Oil Windfall: Atiku Exposes Tinubu's Endless Borrowing

Atiku Abubakar has dropped a bombshell on the Tinubu administration, revealing that despite earning an estimated N7.98 trillion in excess oil revenue between March and July, the government has borrowed nearly N5 trillion from the domestic bond market in just the first half of 2026. The former Vice President, speaking through his aide Phrank Shaibu, pointed out that with crude oil averaging $92 per barrel against a budget benchmark of $64.84, Nigeria is raking in an extra $42.7 million daily. Yet the government is borrowing at almost twice last year's pace as if the nation were in financial distress.

Atiku asked the two unavoidable questions that every Nigerian should be demanding answers to: why is a government enjoying such an extraordinary oil windfall borrowing recklessly, and where has all the money gone? He recalled that previous administrations had clear mechanisms for warehousing excess crude earnings through the Sovereign Wealth Fund, but today Nigerians have been left completely in the dark. A government that cannot explain what it has done with N7.98 trillion in additional oil receipts has no moral authority to keep plunging the country deeper into debt.

This is especially galling given that the UN recently found that about 80 per cent of Nigerians cannot afford a decent meal each day, while infrastructure continues to decay despite repeated promises that fuel subsidy savings would be invested in roads, healthcare, and education. Atiku has promised that under an ADC administration, every kobo earned above the budget benchmark will be transparently accounted for and deployed to reduce debt and invest in productive sectors. The question remains: will the Tinubu government ever provide the accountability Nigerians deserve, or will they continue to treat the nation's wealth as their personal slush fund?