Senator Dino Melaye is calling out the federal government over its spending habits again. He says President Bola Tinubu simply renamed the old fuel subsidy “Energy Security Expenses” to make the huge numbers less obvious.
The former senator claims the Tinubu administration poured N11.9 trillion into these expenses across 2023 and 2024. That total, he says, tops everything former President Muhammadu Buhari spent on actual fuel subsidies during his full eight years in office.
“Tinubu has changed the name of fuel subsidy to ‘Energy Security Expenses.’ He spent N11.9 trillion in 2023 and 2024 alone,” Melaye stated. “That is more than what the Buhari administration spent on subsidy for eight years.”
As African Democratic Congress, (ADC)leader, Melaye described the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a criminal enterprise. He sounded stunned that the government keeps borrowing anyway. “With all this, Tinubu is still borrowing. Allah ya isa (God will judge),” he added.
The remarks land while many Nigerians still wonder what really happened to the petrol subsidy. Tinubu declared it gone on inauguration day, May 29, 2023. Officials insist the market now runs deregulated. Yet financial reports and analysts keep pointing out that the state oil company absorbs heavy costs to hold pump prices steady.
Neither the Presidency nor the APC had offered an official reply to Melaye’s specific claims about the new label or the N11.9 trillion total by the time this report was filed.
