EO9 will add only N1.5tn to federation account, says finance commissioners’ chair
The chairman of the forum of state commissioners of finance, Akintunde Oyebode, has said President Bola Tinubu’s Executive Order 9 on the direct remittance of oil and gas revenues would add only about N1.5tn to the federation account, arguing that the central issue is constitutional compliance rather than a fiscal windfall.
Oyebode, who also serves as Ekiti state’s commissioner for finance, told Arise News on Tuesday that the projected inflow was modest when measured against the overall scale of federation revenues.
“In monetary terms, this is not even a significant increase to the federation account. In total, from the management fee, frontier exploration fee and the gas flaring penalties, we estimate approximately N1.5tn will be added to the federation account,” he said.
He compared that figure with annual inflows he put at over N30tn. “It’s a single-digit impact in terms of growth on the federation account. But that’s not the point,” he added.
Tinubu’s Executive Order 9, signed in February 2026, requires oil and gas revenues due to the federation to be paid directly into the federation account. The directive limits deductions and retentions by agencies and mandates that statutory inflows be remitted in full before any spending or appropriation.
The order has drawn opposition from labour unions, including the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, which warned it could damage the industry and unsettle investors, urging the president to reconsider. The presidency has defended the measure as an enforcement of constitutional provisions rather than an act of executive overreach.
During the programme, a presenter suggested states would “get more money” under the revised remittance structure. Oyebode rejected that framing.
“It’s not about states getting more revenue. It’s about adherence to the Constitution. It’s about doing what is proper,” he said, calling for debate to centre on safeguarding federation revenues.
He argued that more significant revenue leakages may lie outside the items targeted by EO9, pointing to what he described as a steep fall in joint venture inflows after the Petroleum Industry Act.
“Pre-PIA, JVs contributed circa $12bn to the federation. Post-PIA, that number has come down to about $2bn,” he said, alleging that joint venture assets were transferred without adequate valuation and governance oversight.
Oyebode also sought to allay fears that the directive could destabilise NNPC Limited, describing the sums involved as small relative to the company’s scale. Citing audited figures, he said NNPC posted a N4.5tn profit in 2024 on revenues of about N45tn, suggesting the adjustments contemplated under EO9 were marginal in context.
On whether the order could amount to executive overreach or rattle lenders, he declined to offer a legal view, saying any disputes should be resolved in court. He noted that an implementation committee had been constituted and urged stakeholders to await its guidelines.
“If there are valid agreements and contracts in place, it will not affect the repayment of those contracts. We should wait for their guidelines before coming to a conclusion,” he said.
Turning to subnational finances, Oyebode dismissed suggestions that states were being “given” funds by the federal government, stressing that federation revenues belong to the federation and are shared according to constitutionally prescribed formulas.
He added that several states had reduced domestic debt by between 15% and 20% over the past two years, while increases in the naira value of foreign debt were largely attributable to exchange rate movements. Multilateral loans, he said, typically fund infrastructure in water, agriculture and environmental programmes rather than recurrent spending.
Oyebode also highlighted transparency reforms under the World Bank-supported State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability programme, noting that states were publishing budgets, procurement records, quarterly implementation reports and audited accounts, and inviting scrutiny from civil society and analysts.