The Chairman of the Alliance for Economic  Research and Ethics Ltd/GTE, Dele Oye, has said that  despite federal government’s  ‘subsidy-is-gone’ stance, the regime currently operates the most expensive subsidy in history.

Oye, in a statement, described the ₦17.5 trillion debt owed by the Federal Government to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) as disguised fuel subsidy.

The immediate past President of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN),stated that  the huge liability, accumulated through what NNPC’s “energy security expenses,” “under-recovery” and other receivables, were a a continuation of the subsidy regime, but with a different name.

He annoyed that  government’s  subsidy removal, in 2023, did not  succeed in eliminating the financial burden but merely transformed it into an accounting arrangement that had placed additional pressure on public finances.

“Nigeria is currently executing the most expensive subsidy program in its history, yet almost no one is calling it by its true name. A ₦17.5 trillion liability has been accumulated in the shadows, hidden behind accounting terminologies designed to obscure rather than illuminate.

“This is not energy security; it is fiscal capture, the systematic transfer of public wealth through mechanisms that evade democratic oversight. The Petroleum Industry Act was designed to dismantle such opaque structures, not to be weaponized to legitimize them.

“Three years after the declaration that “subsidy is gone,” the burden has never been heavier. It has merely been rebranded. And that, tragically, is the most expensive word game in Nigerian history,” the former NACCIMA President added.

He stated that NNPC’s 2024 financial statements showed that the Federation’s obligations to the company had risen to about ₦17.5 trillion, comprising energy security expenses, under-recovery claims and other receivables.

Oye therefore described the development as raising  concerns over transparency, accountability and the sustainability of Nigeria’s petroleum policy.

According to him,  the current arrangement has  created a situation where government revenue is reduced through deductions from NNPC remittances while Nigerians continue to experience high petrol prices.

He therefore queried  the continued accumulation of the liability despite the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, designed to promote transparency and commercial efficiency in the petroleum sector.

He therefore stressed the need for the  Federal Government to prioritise domestic refining, ensure crude supply to local refineries and establish a more transparent petroleum pricing system