Nigeria spent N1.16tn on fuel subsidy in 2021- RMAFC boss
Abuja, Aug. 2026 – Nigeria spent N1.16 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2021, while N1.20 trillion was deducted from crude oil sales proceeds due to subsidy-related payments.
Mohammed Bello Shehu, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), said this when he appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee investigating the 2021–2023 audit reports on the oil and gas sector conducted by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
He said fuel subsidy accounted for the largest deduction from federation revenues during the period under review.
Bello said other deductions included N16.20 billion for crude oil and petroleum product losses, N22.05 billion for pipeline repairs and maintenance, and N6.75 billion for strategic petroleum stock holding.
He also faulted the method used in calculating the 13 per cent derivation fund for oil-producing states, explaining that the formula is contrary to the intention of the derivation objective.
“The practice of computing the 13 per cent derivation on the balance of revenue after deductions from total collections is contrary to the intention of the derivation objective,” Shehu said.
Meanwhile, Samuel Ogbuku, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), also said oil and gas companies in Nigeria remitted $6.755 billion and ₦1.529 trillion as statutory contributions to the NNDC between 2021 and 2025.
He said the remittances represented the statutory three per cent contribution payable by oil and gas companies to the commission to fund development projects and environmental interventions in the Niger Delta, the region that hosts the nation’s oil and gas operations.
He also disclosed this at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
Ogbuku, who was represented by Ifedayo Abegunde, his Executive Director, Corporate Services, said the oil and gas companies still owed the commission $290 million and ₦163 billion in outstanding statutory contributions in the period under review.
