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SERAP demands govs, Wike reveal spending of ₦14trn subsidy savings
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on Nigeria’s 36 state governors and the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, to immediately reveal the expenditure breakdown of approximately N14 trillion in fuel subsidy savings received through Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributions.
This includes specifics on projects funded by these funds, their locations, progress updates, and any available completion documentation.
SERAP has also pressed them to outline strategies for handling future subsidy savings from FAAC, specifying intended projects for these resources.
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Additionally, the group has encouraged them to openly request oversight from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to audit and supervise the use of these savings, preventing any misappropriation for personal gain.
Reports indicate that since the middle of 2023, these officials have received billions of naira in extra FAAC funds from subsidy removal. Yet, this boost has failed to enhance essential services like reliable healthcare and education for low-income and marginalized citizens across the country.
In Freedom of Information requests issued on October 4, 2025, and authorized by SERAP’s deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization emphasized: “There is a legitimate public interest for governors and the FCT minister to urgently explain how they have spent the money they have so far collected from the subsidy savings.”
SERAP further noted that funds saved from ending the fuel subsidy should exclusively support disadvantaged citizens suffering from the policy’s impacts. Openness in their use could prevent further hardship for these groups through unethical outcomes.
The requests partially stated: “There is a significant risk of mismanagement or diversion of funds linked to the increased FAAC allocations collected by the states and FCT.”
“The spending details of the money collected by several states and the FCT from fuel subsidy savings have been mostly shrouded in secrecy.”
“Millions of poor and vulnerable Nigerians have not benefited from the trillions of naira collected by the governors and FCT minister from as a result of the subsidy savings. Nigerians continue to face a worsening poverty crisis.”
“Several states including your state are also reportedly spending public funds which may include fuel subsidy savings to fund unnecessary travels, buy exotic and bulletproof cars and generally fund the lavish lifestyles of politicians.”
“There are continuing reports of widespread poverty, underdevelopment and lack of access to public goods and services in several states.”
“Opacity in the spending of fuel subsidy savings collected by you would continue to have negative impacts on the fundamental interests of the citizens and the public interest. Transparency would ensure that public funds are not diverted into private pockets.”
“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel your state and the FCT to comply with our request in the public interest.”
“Disclosing the details of the spending of the money collected by your state as fuel savings would allow Nigerians to scrutinise them, and to hold you to account on the spending of public funds.”
“The states and FCT may have failed to transparently and accountably manage the allocations collected from the subsidy savings.”
“Nigerians have the right to know how their states and FCT are spending the savings from the removal of fuel subsidy as part of their human right to information.”
“Combating the corruption epidemic in the spending of the money collected would alleviate poverty, improve access of Nigerians to basic public services, and enhance the ability of your states to effectively and efficiently discharge their responsibilities.”
“According to our information, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2024 distributed N28.78 trillion from the removal of subsidy on petrol to the three tiers of government, representing a 79 per cent increase from the previous year.”
“State governments’ allocations increased by 45.5 per cent to N5.22 trillion. Monthly distributions in 2025 have reportedly exceeded N1.6 trillion.”
“However, despite the increased allocations of public funds to your state and the FCT, millions of poor and socially and economically vulnerable Nigerians have not benefited from the savings.”
“Many states reportedly owe civil servants’ salaries and pensions. Several states continue to borrow to pay salaries. Millions of Nigerians resident in your state and the FCT continue to be denied access to basic public services.”
“Several years of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the spending of public funds by several states and entrenched impunity of perpetrators have undermined public trust and confidence in governments at all levels.”
“Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) requires public institutions to abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power. Section 16(2) of the Nigerian Constitution further provides that, ‘the material resources of the nation are harnessed and distributed as best as possible to serve the common good.’”
“Section 13 of the Nigerian Constitution imposes clear responsibility on public institutions including your state to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of Chapter 2 of the constitution.”
“Nigeria has made legally binding commitments under the UN Convention against Corruption to ensure accountability in the management of public resources. Articles 5 and 9 of the Convention also impose legal obligations on your state and the FCT to ensure proper management of public affairs and public funds.”
“The Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s anti-corruption and human rights obligations rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s activities.”
“The constitutional principle of democracy also provides a foundation for Nigerians’ right to know the spending details of the money collected from the savings from the removal of fuel subsidy.”
“Citizens’ right to know promotes openness, transparency, and accountability that is in turn crucial for the country’s democratic order.”
“The effective operation of representative democracy depends on the people being able to scrutinize, discuss and contribute to government decision making, including on the spending of money collected by your state and FCT from the subsidy savings.”
“To do this, they need information to enable them to participate more effectively in the management of public funds by their state government.”
“The oversight afforded by public access to such details would serve as an important check on the activities of your state and help to prevent abuses of the public trust.”
“The Supreme Court in a groundbreaking judgment declared that the Freedom of Information Act ‘is applicable and applies to the public records in the Federation’, including those relating to the spending of the subsidy savings kept by your state.”
“With the landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has made clear that state governors can no longer hide under their unfounded claim that the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to them.”
“As the Supreme Court has eloquently stated, any freedom of information laws by states is subject to the Freedom of Information Act.”
“Any failure to account for the spending of money collected by your state from the subsidy savings will amount to a blatant disregard of the Supreme Court judgment which has effectively ended the claims by governors that the Freedom of Information Act does not apply to how they spend public funds including the subsidy savings.”
“The judgment sends a powerful message that state governors can no longer escape accountability for how they spend public funds.”
“SERAP urges you to promptly uphold the Supreme Court judgment by urgently accounting for how your state is spending the money it collected from the subsidy savings. The Supreme Court has pointed the way for state governors to show accountability and commitment to transparency in the spending of public funds.”
“Similarly, your state has clear legal obligations to provide the information sought as prescribed by provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and. Enforcement) Act.”
A win bought with cash is a loss for democracy, John Nwosu, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said on Sunday, flatly rejecting the result of Saturday’s polls, hours after it was released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announcing, Charles Chukwuma Soludo as winner.
In the result announced by INEC Returning Officer, Edoba B. Omoregie, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Vice Chancellor of University of Benin announced the total tally for the election, said Charles Chukwuma Soludo, incumbent, who ran on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), scored 422,664 to win the contest and stood re-elected,
Omoregie, who said that Nicholas Ukachukwu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), came second with 99,445, Paul Chukwuma of Young Progressives Party (YPP) 37,753, George Moghalu of the Labour Party (LP) 10,576 and Nwosu credited Nwosu with 8,208, votes out of the registered voters of 2,788,864, and accredited voters of 598,229.”
But pooh-poohing the entire process, Nwosu said it lacked credibility, which was the highest element for consideration in any election, adding that in almost all the polling units where the exercise took place, there were noticeable acts of buying and selling of votes akin to a market place, a development that negated democratic principles and clearly unacceptable to the ADC and himself.
Conveying his position in a statement he personally signed, he said: “I, John Chuma Nwosu (JCN), the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), hereby categorically reject the outcome of the just-concluded gubernatorial election in Anambra State. What took place yesteday was a ruse and total subversion of the people’s will, marred by massive vote buying and shameless financial inducement at polling units across the state. By every account, the people have not spoken.
“In almost every polling unit, voters were openly induced with cash ranging from ₦3,000 to ₦20,000, turning the entire process into a marketplace rather than a democratic exercise. This is a national embarrassment and a direct assault on the integrity of our democracy.
“Let it be clear: True victory is judged not by the outcome but by the integrity of the process. An election riddled with corruption, manipulation, and vote trading cannot and will never represent the voice of the people. Moreover, a shambolic election confers a shambolic mandate.
“The conscience of our democracy has been wounded. When votes are bought, the future is sold. What we witnessed was not the expression of choice, but the glaring triumph of desperation and greed over the principles of justice and fairness.
“I strongly condemn the failure of relevant institutions to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot. When the system fails to uphold fairness, it loses the moral right to declare winners. This culture of electoral corruption must end if we truly desire a prosperous and just society.
“To my Party members , campaign team , volunteers, and every supporter of our movement — I say thank you. You stood firm in the face of intimidation and inducement. You chose honour over compromise, truth over deceit, and conviction over convenience. You are the true defenders of democracy.
“Our mission has never been about winning at all costs; it was about redefining governance and building a new Anambra anchored on values, transparency, elimination of corruption, and a secure state driven by the innovative use of technology.
“This struggle continues. We will not surrender. We will not be silent. Our movement will keep pressing until the people of Anambra can freely choose their leaders without fear or inducement.
“Anambra deserves better — and together, we will build it.”
By Sunny Igboanugo
Today, November 6, 2025, the campaigns end for all the political parties that will participate in the governorship election, scheduled for Saturday. These parties have put their messages out and now it is decision time. That decision is in your hands. The fate of Anambra is firmly in your hands. How do you go?
But as you ruminate on what you have heard these past few weeks and months it is apposite to pause, take a deep breath and look at the issues clearly. You must reflect on how the journey started, where you were yesterday, where you are today and where you are likely to be tomorrow, given the variables before you. Take time to look at all sides of the coin.
Four years ago, faced with the same setting you donated your votes to Charles Chukwuma Soludo. You didn’t make that choice in a vacuum against a set of agreements. Now rev your minds and recall the key issues against which you took that vital position and ponder on them. I’ll help you.
Security: Were you not promised that thenceforth, you were going to sleep with both eyes closed? Are you doing so today?
Lest we forget: In December 2024, Reverend Father Emmanuel Obimma, the outspoken Catholic cleric, popularly known as Ebubemuonso declared Charles Chukwuma Soludo as possessed of a reprobate spirit. Please, google what that expression means. I’ve just done and what I found are not palatable at all. Now, why would a clergyman, no less a Catholic cleric, known for reticence and measured approach go that far to use such an extreme phrase to capture the persona of the governor?
The answers are not farfetched. At the time Ebubemuonso spoke, he was reflecting on the parlous state of security in the state, occasioned by the massive carnage, kidnappings and other forms of high crimes and the apparent insensitivity, if not the complicity of the government of Soludo towards tackling it.
In fact, at that time, one of the brother-priests of the vocal cleric, who just returned to Nigeria from the US, was undergoing a testy time in the hands of kidnappers who abducted him at a filling station, where he had packed to buy petrol.
Just as the wincing of the abducted priest was reverberating across the state and beyond, news again broke of another high-profile case – the seizure of Justice Azuka, member representing Onitsha North 1 constituency at the Anambra State House of Assembly, with the government, still, paying scant heed to the development.
Obimma’s heightened frustration was therefore not only obvious, but understandable. He also not only spoke out, but loudly and clearly. Against the backdrop of his palpably lacerating comments, the government was finally roused to action from its hitherto slumbering mode.
The result, after unleashing a horde of attack dogs against the priest and the few other compatriots, who cared to speak out, was the birthing of Operation Udogachi, what it termed the Anambra Homeland Security Laws, under which the now dreaded Agunechemba outfit currently operates.
But compatriots, what is the result? Is Anambra State safer today, even with the frenzy and audacious commentaries that flowed ceaselessly from the government? I leave you to answer. But before you do, consider the fate of that lawmaker. Yes! What has happened to those people you were told were the culprits in his abduction and subsequent murder?
Yes! Azuka’s remains were later recovered at the foot of the Second Niger Bridge, Onitsha, several weeks later in February – meaning that he was actually in the confinement of his assailants for a long time without rescue. Yes! A lot of fever was generated by the news of the arrest of the abductors. But how has it ended? The matter, as we say here in Nigeria, has entered voicemail.
Indeed, the last I heard of that case was that some of the said culprits escaped from police custody. Now, you needed hear the circumstances under which they were said to have made good their escape. Even a complete retard – an irredeemable imbecile or Mongolian idiot, would be bemused with their incredulous tale.
But let us assume, though difficult to believe that this official side of this sordid story, is credible, have you heard anything else about the other culprits. Shouldn’t their trial have been concluded before now in court and their fate decided? Has Azuka gotten any form of justice.
Now, I ask, my dear compatriots, is this the government you’re going to endorse on Saturday? Do you not smell a rat? Is it not obvious that something is amiss? Can you trust this government? You must consider the answers to these questions. It is not only imperative; you have a right to ask them as well as provide the answers. Yes! It is your right!
Economy:
Lest we forget: By this time four years ago, you were told that in four years, Anambra would be transformed into the Dubai-Taiwan of Africa. Has that happened? Is there any part of Anambra State that resembles Abuja, Accra or even Lome, not to talk about Dubai or Taiwan? Is there any likelihood that in the next 50 years at the pace of development any part of Anambra would look a fraction of Dubai? Aren’t you smelling deceit? Senator Natasha’s Airport antics and the theatre of distraction
Today, having failed woefully to deliver, they have tactfully changed the narrative. They now tell you that they are building the FOUNDATION. Foundation? Is it in the Uga-Amawbia Road – that unending project that is already undergoing patches and rehabilitation in many areas even before it is concluded?
Compatriots, take a drive through major streets in Awka, Nnewi, Onitsha and other major places in Anambra to understand the psychology and philosophy of the Soludo government. It’ll explain the obvious panic mode that you see today around Soludo and his officials. You’ll begin to realise the reason for you to apply your votes wisely on Saturday.
Ask yourself, what would make a government go into the frenzy of knocking down people’s buildings, and business places including INNOSON Motors Showroom on the pretence of dualising their road, only to engage in the horse and buggy pace the project has witnessed?
You must have heard about the Anyamelum hospital saga, where your dear governor, claimed to have commissioned the “first-ever General Hospital. Lacing it with salt and pepper, our dear Charlie Nwa Mgbafor regaled his audience with the seducing tale of how he not only personally visited the patients upon whom four surgeries were performed “in one day, free of charge,” but gave them “something” for their transportation back home?
Didn’t you hear how this tale was busted no sooner thereafter with video evidence that your governor lied and that the hospital was still in fact uncompleted, let alone having the more than 200 patients and the 65 staff the governor claimed? How does that resonate with you.
Compatriots! Did you also miss the drama of communities donating money to his campaigns? How much did you contribute in the N250 million your community contributed in aide of support for him to return as governor. My Ogidi compatriots, how much did you donate? Was it to thank the governor for abandoning your community that was almost swallowed by flood recently.
To you students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, you were said to have also donated from your savings to “encourage” your governor and to thank him. It was your gesture of gratitude that he has refused to grant you bursary award or any form of financial relief.
Welfare:
Lest we forget: Compatriots, are you aware that Anambra is among the very few states in Nigeria that is not paying minimum wage. What do you say to a professor who knows the difference between the quality of money as against the quantity of money posting such a dismal outing?
Ndi-Anambra, I do not wish this letter to be too long. So, let me stop here. But before then, you may have heard your governor suggest that only first-class brains in terms of education are fit to govern you. He readily cites Nnamdi Azikiwe, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Akwaeke Abyssinia Nwafor Orizu, Chinua Achebe and the rest. But let me ask which of these great sons of the land has he mimicked in terms of courage and character.
Zik, it was who confronted the white man and brought independence to Nigeria. Ojukwu, for three good years commanded an army which withstood the whole world – Nigeria, Egypt, United Kingdom, United States and even Russia, who either took direct part in the attempt to annihilate his people or provided deadly weapons to carry out the blitzkrieg that became their lot under the Biafran effort.
What about Nwafor Orizu? Please read up his historic courage as Senate President during the January 1966 coup saga. Now, were you not here when twice, Chinua Achebe threw the national honours awarded him by the Federal Government to their faces? Could this be said of your governor?
If high education is all it takes to be in governance why should the most arguably educated and endowed governor be trembling before a President whose own certificates have remained a subject of controversy and who has not shown publicly proof of primary school education, let alone other levels such attainments, simply because you rely on him for your second term. Where is the courage – the character of Zik, Ikemba and Ugobelunenuoji?
Yes! Our dear governor is a Professor of Economics – of world renown at that – consulting for the highest global institutions. But where has that led us? How better is he head-on with those he claimed to be illiterates and should never be allowed near governance. Has he discharged himself in anyway to suggest his best-brain education?
If yes, in what way? Is it in awarding road contracts? Even a confirmed retard could put pen on paper to award contracts for roads and other projects – not to talk of those that have managed their own businesses, employed labour and empowered people therefrom. So, where does the education bragging rights derive? Wherein lies the prestige of high education when all we see is the crudest form of government business.
Would Zik, et al, condone the breaking of people’s spines with aka-odo or engage in market-women altercations such as we have witnessed today? Would Achebe be silent after the NYSC lady was stripped to her birthday suit? Ponder on this, my people. You have more than 72 hours to do so.
As you approach the polling booth to cast your votes, ask yourself, where are the Ocha Brigade men that slaughtered four people in Onitsha, including a pregnant woman? What has happened to the culprits that killed the Owelle Ezukala three and other victims of trigger-happy state-sponsored actors? Where are those who killed Okechukwu Akanaeme? How come nobody has heard about the ruffians that stripped the NYSC lady?
Since Dubai-Taiwan is no longer feasible or possible, the next question is what next? What will be the fate of Anambra in the hands of Soludo, four years on if you donate that vote to him? Would you risk it? Think about it!
My name is Sunny Igboanugo – The Tiny Voice!
BREAKING: Nwosu, ADC candidate, rejects result of Anambra polls over vote-buying
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