Presidency rejects Makinde’s claim over N250bn NLNG dividend per state
publishers 16articles 22first reported 18 Oct, 14:15 UTCdeveloping since 18 Oct · 8 editions
The Nigerian presidency has rejected Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s allegation that the federal government is withholding more than N250 billion in Nigeria LNG dividends owed to each state until after the 2027 elections.
Makinde made the claim during a 2027 budget stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan on Friday. He said NLNG dividends had entered the Federation Account but were spent by the federal government, adding that states had reconciled the amounts due and Oyo State had planned projects around the anticipated payment.
In a statement on Sunday, presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga called the allegation false and urged the public to disregard it. He said paying N250 billion to each of the 36 states would require N9 trillion for states alone. Because states receive 26.72% of distributable Federation Account revenue, total NLNG dividends in a single declaration would need to exceed N33.68 trillion, or about $25 billion, for Makinde’s figure to be accurate, Onanuga said.
The presidency said NLNG has paid approximately $21.5 billion in dividends to the federation over 25 years, including less than $3 billion since President Bola Tinubu took office, and has never made a single $25 billion payout.
Makinde’s camp maintained that a reconciliation exercise identified a shortfall of roughly N9 trillion and called for clarity about its distribution. The presidency did not publish a transaction-by-transaction reconciliation of the dividend proceeds cited by Makinde or a breakdown of amounts due to individual states.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 4 articles, 4 with the publisher's own text; 2 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 26 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
- Publishers
- 16
- Source articles
- 22
- Given to the writer
- 4, 4 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 2
- This version written
- 26 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- revised
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and changed it before publication. Struck words were in the draft; underlined words are its corrections.
WHAT IT FLAGGED editor revise: Narrow the project-planning claim to Oyo State so it matches Makinde’s reported remarks. - "adding that states had reconciled the amounts due and planned projects around the anticipated payments.": The sources say the amounts due to states had been reconciled, but only Oyo State—not states generally—had identified projects based on the expected payment.
THE DRAFT AND THE CHANGES
Presidency rejects Makinde’s claim over N250bn NLNG dividend per state
The Nigerian presidency has rejected Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s allegation that the federal government is withholding more than N250 billion in Nigeria LNG dividends owed to each state until after the 2027 elections.
Makinde made the claim during a 2027 budget stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan on Friday. He said NLNG dividends had entered the Federation Account but were spent by the federal government, adding that states had reconciled the amounts due and Oyo State had planned projects around the anticipated payments.payment.
In a statement on Sunday, presidential adviser Bayo Onanuga called the allegation false and urged the public to disregard it. He said paying N250 billion to each of the 36 states would require N9 trillion for states alone. Because states receive 26.72% of distributable Federation Account revenue, total NLNG dividends in a single declaration would need to exceed N33.68 trillion, or about $25 billion, for Makinde’s figure to be accurate, Onanuga said.
The presidency said NLNG has paid approximately $21.5 billion in dividends to the federation over 25 years, including less than $3 billion since President Bola Tinubu took office, and has never made a single $25 billion payout.
Makinde’s camp maintained that a reconciliation exercise identified a shortfall of roughly N9 trillion and called for clarity about its distribution. The presidency did not publish a transaction-by-transaction reconciliation of the dividend proceeds cited by Makinde or a breakdown of amounts due to individual states.
Written by a language model from the sources above, then checked by a second model that may only cut, attribute or correct. How it works →