Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria and Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 elections, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s fuel subsidy policy. He urges President Tinubu to ‘stop deceiving Nigerians about his administration’s true position’ on fuel subsidy.
Atiku’s statement, released in Abuja on June 4, 2024, challenges President Tinubu’s claim that the subsidy has been removed, alleging that the Tinubu administration has been secretly paying trillions of Naira as subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (petrol).
He highlights that subsidy payments under Tinubu’s tenure may soar as high as N5.4 trillion this year, 2024.
“At his inauguration on May 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu announced the abolishment of the subsidy on PMS,” Atiku states. “However, fuel queues have mounted at many filling stations across Nigeria since April 2024, indicating a contradiction to the claimed removal of the subsidy.”
Atiku emphasises the need for clarity on the fuel subsidy regime, questioning the fiscal commitments and benefits from the fuel subsidy reform, as well as the impact on the Federation Accounts.
He expresses disappointment over the lack of transparency: “Nigeria is not working, and what we have had in a little over a year is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies. Paying subsidies and lying about it is nothing to brag about. Nigerians deserve better than this deception.”