The Chairman of the Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics LTD/GTE, Dele Oye, has slammed the Federal Government’s celebration of recent energy sector reforms, noting that while the figures brandished by the government was an illusion, the average Nigerian continues to suffer from expensive fuel, unreliable electricity, and rising production costs.

Responding to a 13-page report by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy titled “Nigeria’s Energy Sector Reforms: A Three-Year Review (2023–2026),” highlighting the progress in Nigeria’s energy sector under President Bola Tinubu, he argued that the claims in the report fail to reflect the economic realities faced by households and the productive sector.

He pointed to what he described as a sharp deterioration in the financial position of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited), noting that its internal debt has risen by about 70 per cent to approximately N30.3 trillion.

According to him, this level of indebtedness raises serious concerns about efficiency, governance, and the sustainability of ongoing reforms in the energy value chain.

Oye said: “Audited financial statements for NNPC Limited’s 2024 fiscal year, released in early 2026, revealed that intra-company debts among NNPC’s subsidiaries surged by 70.4 per cent in a single year, from N17.78 trillion in 2023 to N30.3 trillion as of December 31, 2024.

“The biggest debtors are the state’s own refineries: the Port Harcourt Refining Company owed N4.22 trillion; the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company owed N2.39 trillion; and the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company owed N2.06 trillion.

“These are facilities that have absorbed billions of dollars in rehabilitation spending and remain, to this day, largely non-functional. “NNPC’s trading arm, NNPC Trading SA, owed the parent company N19.15 trillion, more than double the N8.57 trillion recorded the previous year.”