NNPCL’s ₦11.2tn Fund Controversy: Atiku Alleges Tinubu Campaign Funding via Pipeline Contracts

Opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar has demanded full transparency, alleging that opaque pipeline surveillance contracts are being used to covertly fund President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.

The controversy has deepened with former Niger Delta agitator Asari Dokubo entering the fray.

Dokubo defended the multi-trillion naira security contracts given to indigenous entities, while naming other high-profile beneficiaries across the region.

The ₦11.2 Trillion Question: Defence vs. Pipeline Security

In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, the Director of Strategic Communication for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku questioned the morality and financial propriety of the current administration.

According to Atiku, NNPCL’s financial tracking shows a pattern of massive, loosely categorized spending. He cited 2024 account records of ₦17.5 trillion and 2025’s ₦11.2 trillion listed as “other receivables” from the Federation.

Atiku pointed out a stark contrast in national priorities, noting that the entire Ministry of Defence received just ₦3.1 trillion in 2025.

“How can this government explain the need to protect a pipeline but struggle to assure Nigerians that their own lives will be protected?” Atiku questioned. “An analysis of these totals does not tell Nigerians what was spent on pipeline surveillance. What was paid? Who was paid? For what work? Where are the results?”

Allegations of Campaign Financing

Atiku directly linked major contract beneficiaries to political patronage. He highlighted Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a firm founded by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), which handles critical oil artery protection.

While Atiku noted that Tantita holds lucrative pipeline security contracts, he alleged that its infrastructure is actively mobilizing support for the president’s next term.

Asari Dokubo Exposes Parallel ₦2.7trn Surveillance Deals

Responding to the heavy criticism surrounding Tompolo’s pipeline contract, former militant leader Asari Dokubo dismissed the backlash as regional hypocrisy.

In a live Facebook broadcast, Dokubo claimed that elite politicians from other regions operate freely within the Niger Delta’s maritime space without scrutiny. He alleged seeing vessels linked to prominent political figures operating in local waters.

Dokubo insisted that indigenous leaders have a right to secure their own territorial assets, revealing that other massive, multi-trillion naira frameworks exist quietly in the region.

Dokubo mentioned figures like the Olu of Warri and Osahon Idahosa, alleging that they also hold major pipeline infrastructure guarding contracts worth up to ₦2.7 trillion annually.

The former militant leader argued that critics intentionally target Tompolo—who he claims receives less—while completely ignoring larger contract allocations. “I’m not in that contract,” Dokubo stated, defending the allocations staying within the Niger Delta. “So people from other regions should come and take the contract?”

Have the Surveillance Contracts Yielded Results?

NNPCL executives and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, have consistently defended private security frameworks, citing an 80% surge in national crude oil output over the last three years.

According to official data, Nigeria’s daily crude oil and condensate production had dropped to 960,000 bpd by mid-2022, largely due to pipeline vandalism on the Trans-Escravos and Nembe Creek Trunk lines.

However, following NNPCL’s award of its initial ₦48 billion annual pipeline contract to Tompolo’s Tantita Security Services in August 2022, production rose to 1.50 million bpd by early 2023, improving further to 1.55 million bpd in 2024.

Authorities have also highlighted Tantita’s security interventions against major illegal oil-bunkering vessels and the prevention of sabotage activities. Officials insist that these security interventions are largely responsible for the peak production output of 1.84 million bpd recorded in April 2026, maintaining that the combined efforts of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) and Tantita culminate in a 97% infrastructure protection success rate.