15/05/2026
₦20 Trillion Is Missing From Nigeria's Federation Account - Olisa Agbakoba
I want to ask Nigerians one simple question, and I want us to actually answer it together: WHERE DOES OUR MONEY GO?
The money you collectively earn as a country, every kobo of oil revenue, every customs duty, every company tax, every regulatory fee, and every court fine. The money that supposedly funds our roads, schools, hospitals, and police.
Most Nigerians do not know this, so let me start with something that may shock you: Nigeria has a special bank account. It is called the FEDERATION ACCOUNT. The 1999 Constitution created it in Section 162. Every kobo of revenue the federal government collects on behalf of Nigeria is supposed to flow into that one account. Then it is shared among the federal government, the 36 states, and the 774 local governments according to a sharing formula.
That is the law. That is what the Constitution actually says.
In 2025 alone, according to the World Bank's Nigeria Development Update, ₦14.94 TRILLION of federation revenue was "deducted" before it ever reached the Federation Account. That is 39% — nearly two-fifths — of what Nigeria earned, gone before any state or LGA saw a single kobo.
In 2024, NNPCL — Nigeria's biggest revenue generator — was supposed to remit ₦1.1 trillion to the Federation Account. It remitted ₦600 billion. Where is the ₦500 billion?
There is currently an active FAAC investigation into allegations that NNPCL under-remitted $42.37 BILLION between 2011 and 2017. At today's exchange rate, that is roughly ₦12.91 trillion. For perspective, that is more than our entire 2024 federal budget. From one company. Over six years. And remember, these are just the leakages we know about.
MEANWHILE, WE ARE DROWNING IN DEBT
Nigeria's total public debt at the end of 2025 was ₦159.27 TRILLION (Debt Management Office, February 2026). In 2023, debt service consumed 78% of federal revenue. In 2024, it consumed 69%.
