On Tuesday, Rabiu Kwankwaso, the vice-presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, said that a Peter Obi-led administration would bring back fuel subsidies in a modified form.
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, stated this in an
interview with Arise TV on Tuesday.
The NDC running mate was discussing the fuel subsidy policy
of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration and the positions of
presidential candidates ahead of the 2027 election.
Both Obi and Kwankwaso have criticised the current
administration’s handling of fuel pricing and agreed that Nigerians need relief
from high pump prices.
However, they appear to differ on a key question: whether
the subsidy should return.
Recall that Obi, the NDC presidential candidate and former
Anambra State governor, has consistently defended the removal of fuel subsidy.
His position, as reflected in his 2023 manifesto and
subsequent interviews, is that the subsidy should have been removed in a
structured and phased manner.
According to Obi, the government should have first tackled
corruption and established a transparent pricing framework with operators in
the downstream petroleum sector.
Also speaking recently at the Nigerian Bar Association
conference in Port Harcourt in August 2026, Obi rejected calls for a return to
the old subsidy regime.
“I subscribe and maintain that you need to remove subsidy.
Mismanagement of the proceeds shouldn’t be the reason for not removing it,” he
said.
The NDC presidential candidate also argued that the savings
should have been invested in critical sectors such as healthcare, education and
agriculture, while also strengthening the country’s sovereign wealth fund.
Obi further claimed that the government recovered trillions
of naira from subsidy removal but failed to transparently channel the funds
into productive investments that would cushion the impact on Nigerians.
On the contrary, Kwankwaso is approaching the issue from a
different direction.
In an exclusive interview with Arise News on Tuesday, the
NDC vice-presidential candidate said an Obi-led government would bring back
subsidy, although not in the form previously operated.
“We are bringing subsidy in our own way,” Kwankwaso said.
The former Kano governor also faulted President Bola
Tinubu’s decision to remove the subsidy on May 29, 2023, arguing that the
policy was implemented without adequate preparations.
According to him, the decision contributed to what he
described as a “total mess economically.”
Kwankwaso acknowledged that the major contenders in the 2023
presidential election had campaigned on eventually removing the subsidy.
Kwankwaso said the government should encourage and support
the expansion of both private and public refineries to ensure that petroleum
products are produced locally and supplied at lower prices.
“If individuals in this country can build refineries, I see
no reason why government under certain circumstances will not build
refineries,” he said.
He added that the objective would be to do “whatever it
takes to put the price of oil down.”
The comments have raised questions about how the NDC would
reconcile the positions of its presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
While Obi has maintained that Nigeria should not return to
the old subsidy regime, Kwankwaso has openly spoken about bringing subsidy back
“in our own way.”
Although both men have criticised the manner in which the
subsidy was removed and have argued that Nigerians should not continue to bear
the full burden of high fuel prices, their approaches differ mainly on the
mechanism.
For Obi, the emphasis is on maintaining subsidy removal,
preventing waste and corruption, and using the savings to improve public
services and the economy.
For Kwankwaso, government intervention should include
supporting domestic refining and introducing measures that would bring fuel
prices down, including subsidy in a new form.
Obi, Kwankwaso may clash over leadership if elected – Economist
Speaking to DAILY POST about the development, Chief
Economist of ARKK Economics & Data Limited, Dr Samson Simon, expressed
concern that a potential Peter Obi-Rabiu Kwankwaso administration could face
personality and leadership clashes if elected in 2027.
Simon said Kwankwaso’s age and longer experience in politics
could create tension with Obi, whom he described as not being primarily a
politician but a former bank chairman.
He said the two opposition leaders needed to resolve their
differences and agree on common policies before the election.
“For Peter Obi and his running mate, I am beginning to be
concerned. Kwankwaso is older and he has been in politics longer than Peter
Obi. And Peter Obi is not primarily a politician; he was a bank chairman,” he
said.
“I’m afraid that if they get to power, they may have a clash
of personality and Kwankwaso might feel too big to take instructions from Peter
Obi.
“They need to sit down together. They can’t be singing
discordant tunes. They have to sit down and agree on a policy.
“I think Kwankwaso should defer to Obi as the head of the
ticket, even if he doesn’t agree. That’s one thing about leadership. The thing
about power is not about age,” he added.
Obi, Kwankwaso must harmonise positions on fuel subsidy –
Analyst
For his part, a political analyst and communication expert
at Peaceland University, Enugu, Nduka Odo, said the disagreement between Peter
Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso over fuel subsidy shows the need for the opposition
ticket to harmonise its economic policies ahead of the 2027 election.
Odo told DAILY POST in a chat that although both politicians
could have different views on economic management, they must present Nigerians
with a clear and coherent position on fuel subsidy.
“You cannot be running on the same ticket and be sending
different signals on an issue as sensitive as fuel subsidy,” he said.
According to him, the issue should not be reduced to
political rhetoric, as the policy has direct implications for the cost of
living and the broader economy.
“They need to sit down, look at the figures and agree on a
position that is economically sustainable and politically clear to Nigerians,”
Odo said.
He added that Obi and Kwankwaso should explain what they
intend to do differently and how their proposed approach to fuel subsidy would
affect ordinary Nigerians.
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