…Says States, LGs Are Biggest Winners of Fuel Subsidy Removal as Poverty, Insecurity Persist
By Joy Odor Abuja
A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Osita Okechukwu, has thrown a bold challenge to Nigerians and party faithful, urging them to hold their governors accountable for the use of the windfall from fuel subsidy removal, warning that most states have little to show despite unprecedented revenue inflows.
Okechukwu, in a sharp response to recent remarks by APC National Chairman, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, said Yilwatda’s call for greater scrutiny of State leadership was a “golden advice” that must not be ignored.
“In my own recalibration of events, the sub-nationals, states and local governments are the greatest beneficiaries of the removal of fuel subsidy,” Okechukwu declared, citing official data that shows trillions of naira previously spent on subsidies now flow to state coffers.
According to him, while Nigeria’s fuel subsidy expenditures reached staggering figures, N667 billion in 2010, N2.11 trillion in 2011, N1.36 trillion in 2012, N1.32 trillion in 2013, and peaking at N4.39 trillion in 2022, the post-subsidy era has seen federal allocations to states soar dramatically.
Despite this, he lamented, many citizens still wallow in multidimensional poverty, insecurity, and infrastructure decay at the state level.
Okechukwu faulted what he described as a “lazy political culture” where the blame for Nigeria’s socioeconomic challenges is habitually heaped on the Federal Government.
“It’s time we changed this mindset,” he said. “The Federal Revenue is not in the hands of the President alone. Accountability must cascade downwards.”
He applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his visible reforms in energy and security, insisting that the President has shown leadership worthy of replication at the state level.
“Yilwatda’s message is a wake-up call, especially to APC governors, who now command the majority of Nigeria’s states. They must rededicate themselves to true development and prudent governance,” he said.
Okechukwu’s comments come amid renewed debates over fiscal transparency, state-level project execution, and Nigeria’s uneven development outcomes despite record revenue inflows to sub-national governments.
In summary: Okechukwu’s message was clear, the days of blaming Abuja are over; the buck must now stop at the Governors’ desks.
