2027: I will bring back petrol subsidy, Atiku insists

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, has restated his pledge to restore petrol subsidy if elected president next year.

Atiku restated his position in a post on X on Tuesday evening, in apparent response to criticisms that trailed his earlier pledge to restore the controversial petrol subsidy, removed by the Bola Tinubu administration.

“On the question of subsidy, my position has not changed and will not change: I will restore it! A nation as blessed as ours has no business abandoning its citizens to hardship. Nigeria is rich enough to look after her own,” the former vice president wrote.

Petrol subsidy has long been a disputed policy among Nigerians, with successive governments saying there was a need to remove it as the government could no longer afford it. However, proponents argued that its removal would worsen the plight of millions of Nigerians as it would lead to increases in the prices of goods and services.

President Tinubu, who defeated Atiku in the 2023 presidential election, announced the end of petrol subsidy on the day he was sworn into office.

The removal of the petrol subsidy, alongside the floating of the naira, contributed to Nigeria’s cost of living crisis, the worst in a generation, as the prices of goods and services tripled across the country.

The government has, however, defended the policy, saying it has eliminated waste and corruption and has made more money available to the government for investment in critical sectors, education and infrastructure. The presidency and the ruling party also criticised Atiku for changing his stance on petrol subsidy, having been a proponent of subsidy removal in previous election cycles.

In his post, Atiku said he would restore “targeted subsidy” but did not elaborate on how he would achieve that.

Details later…

Read Atiku’s full post on X below.

On the question of subsidy, my position has not changed and will not change: I will restore it! A nation as blessed as ours has no business abandoning its citizens to hardship. Nigeria is rich enough to look after her own.

I believe the wealth of a nation is not measured by how much government collects, but by how much the money in the pockets of its people can buy.

I want wages to have value again. I want farmers to move produce without transport swallowing their profits. I want families to fill their baskets without emptying their pockets. I want businesses to produce, employ and prosper.

That is why I will restore targeted subsidy and put purchasing power back in the hands of Nigerians.

When fuel rises, transport rises. When transport rises, food rises. When food rises, families suffer.

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I will break that wretched chain that has defined our national life in the nearly four years of Tinubu’s presidency.

I will support Nigerian production, reduce energy costs and restore purchasing power. I will not restore the import racket; I will restore relief.

I restated this commitment when I received the Osun State leadership of the ADC in Abuja on Tuesday.

I will make the naira in your pocket worth more, make daily living affordable again, and secure our people.

Economic security. Physical security. A better life for every Nigerian.

That is the Nigeria I intend to build. -AA