Nigeria’s 36 state governors have endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive mandating the direct remittance of oil and gas revenues into the Federation Account, describing the policy as a major step toward strengthening fiscal transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public finance system.
The position was announced by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), which stated that the reform would enhance transparency, improve revenue predictability, and align Nigeria’s oil revenue management with constitutional provisions.
The presidential directive, known as Executive Order 9, was signed on February 13, 2026. It restructures the flow of government earnings from the petroleum sector and clarifies regulatory responsibilities within the industry.
Under the order, government entitlements from oil and gas production contracts—including royalty oil, tax oil, profit oil, and profit gas—must now be paid directly into the Federation Account before distribution to federal, state, and local governments.
According to the NGF, simplifying the remittance process will eliminate complex revenue pathways that previously made it difficult to reconcile total earnings from the oil and gas sector.
The forum stressed that transparency in Federation Account inflows is crucial for fiscal planning across Nigeria’s three tiers of government.
Clear and predictable revenue streams, it said, enable governments to plan budgets effectively, manage public debt responsibly, and fund critical infrastructure projects.
Chairman of the forum and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, described the Federation Account as the backbone of Nigeria’s intergovernmental fiscal system.
He noted that recent reports from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) have highlighted gaps between total revenue generated and the final distributable amounts shared among governments.
State governments, the NGF explained, rely heavily on these allocations to deliver essential public services such as education, healthcare, infrastructure development, and local security initiatives.
With Nigeria’s population estimated at more than 220 million people, the governors emphasized that reliable oil and gas revenue remittances are vital for meeting growing development needs.
The forum concluded that the policy would strengthen fiscal federalism, improve accountability in the petroleum sector, and ensure that national resources are distributed more transparently across all levels of government.
