Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has accused President
Bola Tinubu of copying his proposal on petrol subsidy but limiting the measure
to a 30-day discount.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic
Congress (ADC), spoke in Abuja on Friday at the inauguration of the party’s
presidential campaign council.
“Bola, you have borrowed the idea but missed the lesson. You
had a production subsidy and reduced it to a 30-day gesture,” Atiku said.
“Bola, you are like a dull student who copied his
classmate’s answer. And you have done it so blindly that the classmate’s name
was at the top of his exam paper, and then demanded marks for original
thinking.
“You copied my production subsidy proposal. Nothing wrong
about that. [You] stripped away the part that makes it work and handed
Nigerians a 30-day discount. Where is the rest of the answer? Bola, please, you
see why it is good to go to school.”
The ADC presidential candidate said Tinubu had previously
described him as ignorant of economic policy when he proposed targeted support
to reduce fuel costs.
Atiku added that the Tinubu administration had dismissed the
proposal as unworkable.
“Now in a desperate and clumsy retreat, you have shamelessly
embraced the principle you mocked,” Atiku said.
“You owe me an apology.”
Atiku’s comments came a day after the federal government
announced a 30-day petrol discount at filling stations operated by the Nigerian
National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
Taiwo Oyedele, minister of finance, announced the measure at
a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
“We are offering a discount on petrol dispensed by NNPC
Limited for the next 30 days in the first instance with priority for public
transporters nationwide,” he said.
Oyedele said public transport operators would be
prioritised, adding that the measure was not a subsidy but an arrangement for
the government to sell petrol at cost.
He also said the government was considering forward sales of
crude oil to domestic refiners to ease economic pressure on households.
“Pump prices do not have to follow every swing in global
crude prices or the exchange rate. The government is negotiating a ceiling
price of N1,350 a litre on the ex-gantry, or the landing cost of petrol, to
keep fuel prices stable.”
Oyedele said the price would be reviewed monthly.
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