Tinubu’s FAAC boom is a scam of numbers — Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government’s rising Federation Account Allocation Committee disbursements, describing the figures as a scam of numbers that does not reflect an improvement in the living conditions of Nigerians.

Atiku, in a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, argued that the increase in monthly revenue allocations had been presented as evidence of economic progress, despite the depreciation of the naira, high inflation, and increasing debt obligations.

According to him, comparing the naira figures with their dollar value shows that the apparent increase in revenue has not necessarily translated into greater economic value.

The arithmetic is brutal. In 2019, FAAC distribution was approximately 7.85 trillion naira, worth about $25.6 billion at the prevailing exchange rate. By 2025, FAAC had risen on paper to approximately 21.9 trillion naira, yet its dollar value had fallen to roughly $14.6 billion, he said.

Atiku noted that the figures showed while the amount distributed in naira had almost tripled, its estimated dollar value had declined by more than 40 per cent. That is not an economic miracle. That is money illusion. You cannot batter the currency, allow inflation to ravage purchasing power, and then wave bigger naira figures before Nigerians as evidence that the country has become richer, he added.

The former vice president stated that the impact of the economic situation was more evident when measured against workers’ earnings and their ability to meet basic needs.

Using the minimum wage as an example, Atiku said the value of 30,000 naira in 2019 was approximately $83, while the current 70,000 naira minimum wage was worth about $53 at an exchange rate of around 1,320 naira to the dollar. That is Tinubu’s money illusion in its simplest form. The figure in your hand is bigger, but the value in your pocket is smaller, he said, arguing that workers could receive higher nominal salaries while simultaneously losing purchasing power because of the rising prices of food, transportation, electricity, healthcare, and housing.

Atiku also questioned why state governments continued to face significant debt obligations despite what the Federal Government describes as unprecedented FAAC revenues.

He cited a September 2026 report based on Debt Management Office data, which he said showed that 12 states whose governors were approaching the end of their tenures had a combined debt burden of about 5.3 trillion naira, consisting of 2.16 trillion naira in domestic debt and approximately $2.33 billion in foreign obligations.

The former vice president also criticised government spending, tax concessions, import waivers, revenue exemptions, and what he described as duplicated and abandoned projects.

Atiku maintained that Nigerians judge the economy through their daily experiences rather than government revenue statistics.

Atiku called for greater attention to affordability, purchasing power, energy costs, food prices, and transportation, insisting that these indicators provide a clearer picture of economic wellbeing than nominal revenue increases.

He concluded that until the government could demonstrate how the higher FAAC allocations had improved public services, reduced liabilities, and strengthened citizens’ purchasing power, the revenue figures should not be presented as proof of widespread prosperity.