Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said the Federal Government cannot claim to have fully ended fuel subsidy while continuing to cover petrol price shortfalls under different labels.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said no amount of opposition from President Bola Tinubu would prevent him from introducing a targeted fuel subsidy if elected.
He stressed that his proposal differs from the previous subsidy regime.“The government’s own spending records contradict its claim that fuel subsidy has been completely removed,” Atiku said.
He pointed to the NNPC’s audited financial statements for 2023 and 2024, which showed the government still absorbing petrol price shortfalls, listed as energy-security expenses.
Changing the name of the expenditure does not alter its impact on public finances, he argued.
“Nigerians do not eat semantics. Whether government calls it subsidy, under-recovery, shortfall or energy security, public resources were being used to bridge a gap between economic cost and the price at which petrol was sold.”
Atiku also accused the government of applying different standards to ordinary citizens and large oil investors. He noted existing tax credits and incentives for petroleum operators, saying the administration supports corporate interests while expecting Nigerians to bear the full weight of economic reforms.
“The government can protect a multibillion-dollar oil investment from risk, yet it says protecting the Nigerian worker from crushing hardship is bad economics,” he stated.
He maintained that his planned subsidy would not revive what he described as the “opaque and corruption-ridden” system of the past. Instead, it would be targeted, capped, transparently budgeted, independently audited and time-bound, with a clear exit strategy.
The plan would also include measures to increase domestic refining capacity, improve public transportation and restore household purchasing power.
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