A leading figure in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kola Ologbondiyan, on Monday said the removal of fuel subsidy continues to inflict severe hardship on Nigerians.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Ologbondiyan endorsed the stance of ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar on the matter and warned President Bola Tinubu’s administration that the policy is damaging both ordinary citizens and the government itself.
Tinubu and Atiku have repeatedly clashed over the subsidy removal, which the president announced at his inauguration at Eagle Square in 2023.Ologbondiyan stressed that no one, including Atiku, is calling for a return to the previous subsidy system. “Let me start on a very clean note, which is that nobody is returning Nigeria to the old system. Nobody is contemplating that, not the ADC presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Nobody is,” he said.
He explained that he had earlier urged the Tinubu government to review the subsidy arrangement, predicting it would harm Nigerians and the administration more. Atiku’s position, he clarified, focuses on examining the entire production-to-consumer chain to identify areas where costs can be cut so that end users pay less than the current crushing prices.
“These are the issues, and not all these political arguments that I want to take you back to those times when they were doing corruption,” Ologbondiyan stated. He asked whether the promised benefits of subsidy removal had materialised, noting that the policy has forced Nigerians “to their knees.”
He contrasted fuel prices before and after the change: Nigerians paid about ₦200 or less per litre before 29 May 2023, but now pay around ₦1,300. The sharp rise, he said, is taking a heavy toll on the population.
Ologbondiyan dismissed claims that Atiku had suddenly reversed his 2023 position, calling such suggestions laughable. He also recalled that Tinubu’s camp had campaigned against subsidy removal before taking office and had entered government promising reforms in that area.
“Atiku’s programme differs from what they are saying. I’m not sure they even have the patience to study what the man is proposing,” he concluded.
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