Public affairs analyst Mahdi Shehu has faulted the Federal Government’s decision to remove fuel subsidy, alleging that the policy was designed to shield corruption rather than eliminate it.
Shehu made the allegation in a post on X on Wednesday, the 4th of February, 2026, where he characterised the subsidy removal as an unprecedented scheme of fraud, theft and corruption in Nigeria’s history. He anchored his argument on a comparison between subsidy payments in previous years and recent expenditure figures released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
He stated that Nigeria spent a combined total of ₦5.7 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2021 and 2022, a figure he contrasted with NNPCL’s claim that ₦17.5 trillion was expended between January and December 2025 on securing oil pipelines.
“Subsidy removal did not curb corruption, it nurtured and protected it,” Shehu wrote.
He further contended that the policy had failed to ease Nigeria’s debt burden, noting that borrowing had continued despite the removal of subsidy.
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“Even with the so-called subsidy removal, we still keep borrowing to stop borrowing,” he said.
According to Shehu, the economic hardship faced by Nigerians was being driven by the actions of a powerful few who were reaping benefits from the system at the expense of the masses.
“From all intents and purposes, we have a clique, cartel and cabal whose main aim is to pauperise 250 million people and eventually destroy Nigeria,” he claimed.
“Shame, Big shame in the primitive thieves with thievery constituting 100% of their pathology.”