There is rising disquiet over Executive Order 9, proclaimed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which mandated the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to remit oil and gas revenue directly to the Federation Account.

Several stakeholders in the Nigerian project contested that the President may have taken over law making duties of the legislature.

Executive appointees of the President, counter the arguments, asserting that the EO9 has constitutional fidelity and not executive overreach.

The Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation; and Secretary, Implementation Committee on Executive Order, Tanimu Yakubu, in a statement argued that commentaries suggesting that Executive Order 9, EO9 amounts to the President “making law” misstate both the Constitution and the fiscal question at issue. He asserted that EO9 does not create law; it enforces constitutional custody of Federation revenues.

Yakubu stated that Section 80(1) of the Constitution (1999, as amended) is mandatory. According to the Constitution, "all revenues or other monies raised or received by the Federation shall be paid into and form one Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation. Public revenue cannot lawfully be retained, applied, or warehoused outside constitutional funds".

The DG maintained that Section 162 complements this rule by requiring revenues accruing to the Federation to be paid into the Federation Account for distribution in accordance with constitutional allocation principles.

According to him, "the order of legality is clear: revenue must first enter constitutionally recognised accounts before it can be appropriated, shared, or spent."

Yakubu declared that EO9 operationalizes these provisions in the oil and gas sector by directing direct remittance of petroleum revenues - including royalties, taxes, profit oil and gas, penalties, and related receipts - into constitutionally recognised accounts, and by tightening reconciliation and transparency across collection, custody, and reporting.

He argued that EO9 does not intrude into legislative competence.
According to him, "Section 60(1) preserves the procedural autonomy of the National Assembly; EO9 does not regulate legislative procedure, amend the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), or repeal any statute. It is an executive instrument issued under Section 5 to ensure faithful execution of the Constitution and applicable laws".

Yakubu advocated that if any party disputes the constitutional validity of EO9, the judiciary remains the proper forum for determination.

"Pending any judicial pronouncement, the Executive is duty-bound to protect Federation revenues, uphold constitutional supremacy, and strengthen fiscal integrity for FAAC distributions, budget credibility, and macroeconomic stability," Yakubu insisted.