Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has clarified that his proposed restoration of petrol subsidy will not have a predetermined withdrawal date.
He also said subsidy will no longer be necessary when “the
market becomes capable of delivering affordable prices without government
support”.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic
Congress (ADC), made the clarification in a statement issued on Monday by
Phrank Shaibu, his senior special assistant on public communication.
The statement followed comments by Paul Ibe, Atiku’s
spokesperson, suggesting that an Atiku administration would reintroduce petrol
subsidy for a period before eventually phasing it out.
Speaking on AIT, Ibe said the temporary intervention would
give Nigerians and businesses room to recover, stimulate economic activity and
improve productivity.
Shaibu described Ibe’s comments as an unauthorised and
misleading characterisation of Atiku’s policy position.
He said policy belonged to Atiku as the candidate and that
aides were responsible for explaining his position accurately rather than
creating formulations that could confuse the public.
“Atiku has never proposed restoring the import-subsidy
regime and subsequently removing it on some predetermined date. That is not his
policy and should not be attributed to him,” the statement reads.
According to Shaibu, Atiku is proposing a targeted, capped,
transparently budgeted and independently audited intervention to support
domestic refining and production.
He said the plan would have measurable conditions for
eventual withdrawal from the outset, rather than an arbitrary date for ending
the intervention.
“There is no arbitrary withdrawal date. As domestic refining
expands, supply stabilises, competition deepens, and the market becomes capable
of delivering affordable prices without government support, the intervention
progressively becomes unnecessary,” he said.
“You do not remove scaffolding because the calendar says so.
You remove it when the building can stand securely on its own.”
‘CUT COSTS, RESTORE PURCHASING POWER’
Shaibu said the focus of Atiku’s proposal should be on
reducing the cost of living rather than arguments over whether the policy
should be described as subsidy.
He said the proposed intervention would seek to reduce
production and transportation costs, strengthen domestic refining and restore
consumers’ purchasing power.
“The real question is simple: Why has everything become so
expensive, and what will Atiku do to make life affordable again?” he said.
“Tinubu transferred the shock of his reforms to Nigerian
families. Atiku will reduce production and transportation costs, strengthen
domestic refining, and restore purchasing power.”
He said the choice before Nigerians was not simply between
removing and restoring subsidy, but between maintaining high costs and creating
an economy where goods and services become more affordable.
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