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Nigeria mobilised ₦15.8 trillion from petrol subsidy savings between June 2023 and December 2025, according to Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele.
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The Federal Government received ₦5.4 trillion, while ₦10.4 trillion was shared among states and local governments.
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Oyedele said the Federal Government’s total incremental resources reached ₦20.4 trillion after adding independent revenue and additional borrowing.
August 19, (THEWILL) — Nigeria mobilised ₦15.8 trillion in resources from savings generated by the removal of petrol subsidies between June 2023 and December 2025, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has said.
Oyedele disclosed this on Wednesday at a media conference on the scorecard of the Federal Government’s economic reforms between 2023 and 2026.
He said the savings created additional fiscal resources for the three tiers of government, with the Federal Government receiving ₦5.4 trillion and ₦10.4 trillion shared among states and local governments.
How the Savings Were Mobilised
Oyedele said the resources were reflected through higher revenue collections, particularly as the exchange-rate reform increased the naira value of dollar-denominated transactions.
“Between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilised the sum of ₦15.8 trillion in resources for the federation”, he said.
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Beyond subsidy savings, the Federal Government generated ₦3.1 trillion in incremental independent revenue during the period, principally through remittances from government-owned entities.
It also raised an additional ₦11.9 trillion through borrowing, bringing the Federal Government’s total incremental resources from subsidy savings, independent revenue and borrowing to ₦20.4 trillion.
Oyedele said the additional borrowing would have been “far higher and economically destabilising” without the fiscal space created by the reforms.
Where the Money Went
The minister said the Federal Government incurred ₦30.64 trillion in incremental expenditure during the same period.
Of this amount, ₦9.39 trillion went towards wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and allowances for public servants, while ₦9.37 trillion was spent on external debt servicing.
Another ₦6.5 trillion was allocated to strategic infrastructure.
Oyedele noted that the increase in the naira cost of servicing external debt was largely caused by the depreciation of the currency following the exchange-rate reforms.
He explained that although the dollar value of Nigeria’s external debt remained unchanged, the government now required more naira to meet the same dollar-denominated obligations.
“If we were paying $1 million before in interest on our foreign debt, it is still the same $1 million, but instead of ₦460, it’s now ₦1,415”, he said.
He added that debt-service obligations could not simply be delayed without consequences.
Oyedele also pointed out that the ₦9.39 trillion spent on wage adjustments exceeded the Federal Government’s ₦5.4 trillion share of subsidy savings.
“The incremental amount that the federal government spends paying higher wages is more than the entire savings that the federal government earned from subsidy removal”, he said.
The minister maintained that the reforms were not primarily introduced to increase government revenue, but to address what he described as entrenched corruption and distortions in Nigeria’s artificially managed petrol subsidy and foreign exchange markets.
The figures provide a breakdown of how the government says resources unlocked by the reforms have been absorbed by higher wages, debt servicing, infrastructure and other fiscal commitments.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze is a writer specializing in business and economic journalism. At THEWILL News Media, she translates market trends, financial developments, and policy shifts into clear and engaging stories.
