Nigeria's Federal Government has clarified that the ₦15.8 trillion in resources mobilised from subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms between June 2023 and December 2025 did not translate into a pool of unspent cash, with total incremental expenditure over the same period reaching ₦30.64 trillion.
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed this while presenting the government's Reform Scorecard at a media briefing in Abuja. He said the ₦15.8 trillion was shared across the Federal Government, states and local governments, with no distinct line item for "subsidy savings" ever appearing in the Federation Account.
"There wasn't any alert to the Federation Account with the description subsidy savings. So the subsidy savings showed up in form of higher collection by customs," Oyedele said.
He explained that the figure reflected increased naira-denominated revenue from customs duties and company income tax, following the unification and flotation of the exchange rate, rather than a direct subsidy payout.
Of the ₦15.8 trillion, the Federal Government received ₦5.43 trillion, while states received ₦6.52 trillion and local governments received ₦3.88 trillion through the Federation Account. The Federal Government also generated ₦3.12 trillion in additional independent revenue, mainly from remittances by government-owned entities, and raised ₦11.85 trillion through incremental borrowing, bringing its total incremental resources to ₦20.4 trillion.
Against this, the Federal Government's incremental expenditure over the period totalled ₦30.64 trillion. Of this, ₦9.39 trillion went to wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and public servant allowances, ₦9.37 trillion to external debt servicing following the naira's depreciation, and ₦6.5 trillion to strategic infrastructure.
Oyedele said the exchange rate reform addressed an implicit subsidy that had benefited rent-seekers rather than ordinary Nigerians or manufacturers, adding that the figures and supporting materials would be published on the Finance Ministry's website for public scrutiny.