Paul Ibe, spokesperson for Atiku Abubakar, says the former vice-president would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027 and phase it out later.
Speaking on AIT, Ibe said the temporary intervention would
give Nigerians and businesses room to recover, stimulate economic activity and
improve productivity.
He said the proposal would not revive the old subsidy regime
but would instead tie government support to crude oil production and domestic
refining.
“We are not returning to Egypt. We are not going back to the
old regime that was opaque,” Ibe said.
“What he’s simply saying is that the subsidy that he is
advocating will be tied to the barrel, the crude oil barrel.
“This is perhaps the only thing that we have in so much
abundance that Nigerians have not yet benefited from.”
According to him, crude oil would be supplied to local
refiners at a discounted price to enable them produce petrol and diesel at
lower costs.
He said the cheaper production cost would ultimately
translate into lower pump prices for consumers.
“The crude oil will be sold at a discounted price,
subsidised to refiners, and that will enable refiners to be able to produce
fuel and diesel at a cheap cost. And when they produce cheaply, they will sell
at the real pump price,” he said.
Ibe said an independent committee would determine the
appropriate price at the refinery, taking prevailing market conditions into
consideration.
He added that although the downstream petroleum sector had
been deregulated, government could still monitor prices to ensure that refiners
and marketers operated within the framework of the policy.
“There’ll be a window because, of course, we deregulated.
You may not fix the price but you can have price monitoring to ensure that
everybody aligns with what government hopes to achieve,” he said.
‘IT WILL BE FOR A PERIOD’
Ibe said the proposed intervention would be implemented for
a limited period to stimulate economic activity and improve productivity.
“Yes, if you recall, his argument, even in 2023, was that
they’re going to have recourse to having a phased removal,” he said.
He criticised the Tinubu administration for removing petrol
subsidy alongside other major economic reforms without allowing the economy to
adjust.
“No surgeon, no doctor would carry out two or more serious
major surgeries, one after the other. They would do one, allow the patient to
recuperate, and then undertake the second, or the third,” Ibe said.
“But what has this administration done? The issue of
subsidy, flippant. No cabinet. No advisers. Just in the heat of the moment, it
has been removed. No shock absorbers. Nothing. No palliatives. Absolutely
nothing.”
He said the simultaneous removal of petrol subsidy,
deregulation of foreign exchange and electricity subsidy had compounded the
economic difficulties facing Nigerians.
Ibe said the proposed intervention was necessary to give
Nigerians and businesses room to recover and increase productivity.
“You need to give Nigerians and give manufacturers an
opportunity to ensure that there is productivity,” he said.
“There is little or no productivity in this economy because,
I mean, you talk about paying salary, that’s what they are doing there. There
is no creativity. They’re simply having plenty of naira as a result of the
devaluation.”
He said Atiku’s economic plan would also focus on
diversifying the economy beyond dependence on crude oil.
“We also need to start thinking about an economy that is
beyond the oil economy. We need to diversify our economy,” Ibe said.
Ibe’s comments come amid an ongoing dispute between Atiku
and President Bola Tinubu over the former vice-president’s proposal to restore
petrol subsidy.
Tinubu had described Atiku’s proposal as evidence of
“serious ignorance on governance and economy”.
Atiku subsequently rejected the criticism, saying his
proposal was not a return to the old subsidy regime but a targeted, capped,
budgeted and independently audited intervention designed to support domestic
production.
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