Felix Morka, spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has described Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027 as “desperation of the most pitiful kind”.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, Atiku, presidential
candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said the money saved from
subsidy removal had not been judiciously expended.
“I did not oppose the removal of the oil subsidy, but where
is the money? Where did it go? It was intended to reduce poverty and help
children attend school. Where is the money now? It seems they are just stealing
it,” Atiku said in Hausa.
“If elected, I will bring back the oil subsidy, and whoever
stole the money must refund it.”
Atiku said the removal of petrol subsidy could have been
justified if the savings had been channelled into development projects, as well
as security, education and opportunities for young Nigerians.
‘ATIKU IGNORING TINUBU’S ECONOMIC REFORMS’
Reacting, Morka accused the former vice-president of
reversing his position for political reasons ahead of the 2027 election.
“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential
candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has backflipped from his
2023 policy support for fuel subsidy removal to a promise to restore fuel
subsidy if elected president in 2027,” he wrote on X.
“This is desperation of the most pitiful kind — an admission
he is clueless and out of touch with Nigeria’s economic realities and
imperatives of reform.”
The APC spokesperson accused Atiku of deliberately ignoring
what he described as the transformative progress recorded under President Bola
Tinubu.
Morka said the subsidy proposal showed that Atiku was
“grossly bereft of ideas of alternative economic policy prescription”.
He described the proposal as “a last-ditch grasping at
straws of misplaced populism”, which he said could ultimately contribute to
another defeat for Atiku in 2027.
Morka said Atiku’s position amounted to “willful blindness
to transformative progress recorded by the Tinubu administration”.
He added that Atiku’s proposal represented a reversal of
economic reforms rather than a credible alternative policy for addressing
Nigeria’s economic challenges.
Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy in his
inaugural address on May 29, 2023, triggering a subsequent increase in the cost
of living as the prices of goods and services rose across the country.
Several states, however, recorded increased monthly
allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) following
the subsidy removal.
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