Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has condemned President Bola Tinubu for approving the cancellation of about $1.42 billion and N5.57 trillion outstanding obligations owed by the NNPCL to the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) following a reconciliation of records between both parties.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Mr Obi decried financial recklessness under Mr Tinubu-led administration amid unprecedented confronting Nigerians.

“Financial recklessness is increasingly becoming normalized in our country,” the politician said. “Just last week, it was alarmingly reported that the President approved the write-off of ₦5.57 trillion and $1.42 billion—approximately ₦8 trillion—in debts owed by NNPC, a company that recently announced profits and claimed it had turned a new leaf.”

Mr Tinubu, in December last year, approved the cancellation of the debts amid ongoing reform efforts by the federal government to address legacy debt issues in the energy sector and improve transparency in the management of public revenues.

Mr Obi slammed the cancellation approval, noting that the NNPC was currently facing serious audit inquiries for failing to account for ₦210 trillion, an amount he said exceeded the combined Federal budgets of Nigeria from 2023 to 2026.

“For context, the federal government’s budgets for these years were approximately: ₦21.83 trillion for 2023, ₦43.56 trillion for 2024, ₦54.99 trillion for 2025, and an estimated ₦58.18 trillion for 2026. The total budget for these four years amounts to roughly ₦178.56 trillion,” he stated.

While noting that Nigerians were still waiting for the outcome of the National Assembly investigation into the missing trillions, the ADC chieftain berated Mr Tinubu’s approval despite that the company was still under scrutiny for trillions spent on non-functional refineries.

Mr Obi added the almost ₦8 trillion write-off could have generated the revenue the government now seeks through these unfair taxes, adding the money could have been deployed to fund critical infrastructural development and create more jobs for Nigerians.

He stated, “The amount exceeds the 2025 combined Federal budget allocations for education, health, and agriculture, which total ₦7.1 trillion. In practical terms, this money alone could fully fund critical areas of development, lifting millions of Nigerians out of poverty and significantly reducing the over 130 million people currently living in poverty in the country.

“The write-off sum of ₦8 trillion is nearly twice the 2025 Federal Security budget of ₦4.9 trillion, even as insecurity continues to devastate communities across the nation. Such resources could empower 8 million youths—10% of the 80 million unemployed—creating approximately 1,000 jobs for each of the 8,809 wards, thus substantially reducing the 130 million impoverished individuals in the country.”

Mr Obi challenged Mr Tinubu to clarify the debt forgiveness to Nigerians who he said were already enduring severe hardships due to the removal of petroleum and electricity subsidies, with no tangible improvements in their lives.

“It is imperative that the government provides a clear and transparent justification for the write-off, given the immense impact such a large amount of resources could have on national development.

“The president, who is also the Minister, owes the Nigerian people clear answers. The citizens deserve honesty, fiscal discipline, and governance that protects their interests—not the interests of mismanaged corporations or political elites. This betrayal of the people must be stopped,” the politician stressed.

Meanwhile, the African Democratic Congress also condemned Mr Tinubu’s cancellation approval as unconstitutional, adding the action was sufficient enough to impeach the president.

“The federation account is not subject to executive discretion; no president, including this one, has the unilateral authority to cancel constitutionally due revenues, and any cancellation that reduces revenue due to the states and local governments without legislative authority is unconstitutional,” ADC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, said in a statement last Saturday.