Governor Seyi Makinde has finally met his Waterloo, not in the opposition politics he now wages against his own Yoruba kinsman, but in the simple arithmetic of the Federation Account. The Presidency’s response to his latest outburst has exposed him for what he has become in his desperation for a presidential ticket, a blackmailer, a mischief-maker and a liar who has turned falsehood into an art form.
The facts are stark and embarrassing. At the 2027 Budget Stakeholders’ Consultative Engagement at Olola Ogunlana Hall, International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan on Friday, Makinde looked stakeholders in the eye and declared, “Each state was supposed to get N250 billion. We had already identified projects that would expand Oyo State’s economy. But they have now said the money will not be paid until after the election. Is the election more important than the people of Nigeria?” He claimed the Federal Government had spent the money and was withholding NLNG dividends until after 2027.
Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga on October 18 responded with figures that demolished Makinde’s claim as economically illiterate and deliberately mischievous. N250 billion to each of 36 states is N9 trillion, excluding the Federal Government, FCT and 774 local governments. Under FAAC formula where states get 26.72%, for states alone to get N9 trillion, NLNG would have had to pay over N33.68 trillion, about $25 billion, in a single declaration into the Federation Account. NLNG has never paid $25 billion in a single payout in its history. In fact, NLNG has paid approximately $21.5 billion in dividends to the Federation over the last 25 years, with less than $3 billion realised since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office. Makinde’s claim that a single withheld payout exceeds the company’s entire lifetime distribution is not just false, it defies basic logic.
This is blackmail politics at its crudest. By telling Oyo people that Tinubu is holding their N250 billion hostage until after election, Makinde was trying to extort sympathy and incite disaffection against the Federal Government. It is the classic trick of a failing governor, when you cannot account for the huge FAAC flows you already received, invent a bigger flow you did not receive.
It is also malicious mischief. The Presidency noted that this is a pattern. Makinde once described the huge financial flow from the federation account to states, including Oyo, as ‘voodoo’ to delegitimize Tinubu’s economic management. He claimed N570 billion was given as hardship grants when it was a World Bank NG-CARES loan reimbursement. He claimed N50 billion was given for Ibadan Airport when approval was at no cost to the Federal Government. He claimed N50 billion for Bodija explosion when only N30 billion was released. Now N250 billion NLNG per state. Each lie is calculated to paint Abuja as wicked and himself as victim.
The Presidency was blunt, “We expect Governor Makinde to be more measured in his public conduct and utterances. Since he embarked on his presidential bid, he has chosen to play politics by making misleading claims rather than presenting verifiable facts. Indeed, he has turned false, unguarded statements and claims into an art form.”
A man who lies about N9 trillion that never existed cannot be trusted with Oyo’s N6 billion monthly allocation, let alone Nigeria’s budget. A governor who could not provide evidence for his N48 billion asset declaration in 2019, who threatened that Ajimobi would be stoned, who sacked 33 councils two hours after inauguration, and who now presides over Molete killings where Accord candidate Oriyomi Hamzat’s supporter Azeez Tajudeen was killed on October 14, now wants Nigerians to believe Tinubu is withholding $25 billion.
The law allows Makinde to pursue his presidential ambition under the Allied Peoples Movement. What the law and morality do not allow is to build that ambition on blackmail, malice and serial lies. The N250 billion lie has exposed him, and Oyo people now know that the emperor has no figures.
