The Federal Government says the removal of petrol subsidy and reforms to Nigeria’s foreign exchange market generated ₦15.8 trillion in additional resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed the figure on Wednesday while presenting the government’s Nigeria Reform Scorecard, titled “The Benefits, Costs and Harm Prevented.”
The disclosure provides the government’s latest explanation of what happened to the financial gains associated with the removal of petrol subsidy, a policy announced by President Bola Tinubu in May 2023.
Oyedele said the ₦15.8tn did not appear as a separate credit to the Federation Account labelled “subsidy savings.” Instead, the gains were reflected in higher revenue collections following the subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms.
“Between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilised a sum of N15.8tn in resources for the Federation,” Oyedele said.
He explained that the naira value of dollar-denominated revenues increased substantially after the exchange rate was adjusted. Customs duties and petroleum-related taxes that were previously calculated at lower exchange rates consequently generated more naira revenue.
“For every one dollar of import duty before, at N460, it became one dollar at N1,004, N1,003, N1,005,” Oyedele said, explaining how the foreign exchange reform affected revenue collections.
The minister stressed that the figure should not be attributed solely to the removal of petrol subsidy. He said the foreign exchange reform also eliminated what he described as an implicit subsidy that benefited rent-seekers rather than ordinary Nigerians and manufacturers.
The government’s figures show that the ₦15.8tn was distributed across the three tiers of government through the Federation Account allocation system. The Federal Government received ₦5.4tn, while states received ₦6.5tn and local governments ₦3.9tn.
Effect of Economic Reforms
The government has presented the reforms as necessary measures to correct longstanding distortions in Nigeria’s fuel and foreign exchange markets. It argues that retaining the old subsidy and exchange-rate regimes would have continued to drain public resources and create opportunities for arbitrage.
However, the reforms have also produced substantial economic pressure for households, particularly through higher fuel, transport, food and other living costs. The government’s reform scorecard acknowledges that household welfare remains a major challenge despite improvements in fiscal and macroeconomic indicators.
Oyedele said the reforms had also contributed to higher monthly allocations to states and local governments, wage increases, infrastructure spending, student financing through NELFUND, social transfers and other government interventions.
The government is now seeking to demonstrate that the short-term pain associated with the reforms is being converted into stronger public finances and improved economic capacity.
The ₦15.8tn figure, however, is not a standalone cash balance saved from petrol subsidy payments. Rather, it represents additional resources the government attributes to the combined effects of subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms, with the proceeds flowing through higher Federation revenue and subsequent statutory allocations.
