The Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s approval of a ₦5.57 trillion and $1.42 billion (about ₦8 trillion) debt write-off for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), describing the move as a clear display of fiscal recklessness.
In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, Obi noted that the same NNPCL is currently under intense audit scrutiny for allegedly failing to account for ₦210 trillion. He expressed concern that while Nigerians await the outcome of the National Assembly’s investigation into the missing funds, the President who also serves as Minister of Petroleum Resources has approved a massive debt forgiveness for the oil company.
Obi further recalled that the NNPCL is already being investigated over trillions of naira reportedly spent on non-functional refineries.
According to him, the nearly ₦8 trillion written off could have covered much of the revenue the federal government is now attempting to generate through what he described as burdensome taxation policies.
He pointed out that the amount exceeds the combined 2025 federal budget allocations for education, health, and agriculture, which stand at ₦7.1 trillion.
“In real terms, this sum could have been deployed to fund critical development sectors, lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, and significantly reduce the over 130 million citizens currently living below the poverty line,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor lamented that Nigerians, already grappling with hardship following the removal of fuel and electricity subsidies without corresponding improvements in living conditions, are now faced with what he termed an unexplained debt forgiveness.
Obi called on the federal government to provide a transparent and detailed explanation for the write-off, stressing that such a huge financial decision has far-reaching implications for national development.
He added that the ₦8 trillion write-off is almost double the proposed 2025 federal security budget of ₦4.9 trillion, despite worsening insecurity across the country.
According to him, the funds could have been used to empower eight million young Nigerians about 10 per cent of the unemployed population and create roughly 1,000 jobs in each of the country’s 8,809 wards.
Obi insisted that President Tinubu owes Nigerians clear answers, urging the administration to uphold transparency, fiscal discipline, and people-centred governance.
“The citizens deserve honesty and accountability, not policies that protect mismanaged institutions or political elites. This betrayal of public trust must stop,” he concluded.
