Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has strongly replied President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over remarks describing his proposed petroleum-sector intervention as a demonstration of “serious ignorance on governance and the economy.”
In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku dismissed the President’s criticism and accused the administration of imposing severe hardship on ordinary Nigerians through the removal of fuel subsidy without adequate safeguards.
Atiku stated that Tinubu’s decision to declare “subsidy is gone” on May 29, 2023, without a credible transition plan or protective measures amounted to “economic vandalism by presidential fiat.” He argued that the policy triggered sharp rises in petrol prices, transportation costs, food inflation, and a steep depreciation of the naira, leaving households and businesses struggling.
“Tinubu has given Nigerians the worst of both worlds: he removed the relief but retained the opaque costs. Nigerians got the pain; government kept the bill,” Atiku declared.
He pointed to reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) audited accounts contain approximately ₦17.5 trillion in energy-security costs and petroleum under-recoveries, including about ₦7.13 trillion classified as energy security and ₦8.67 trillion in under-recoveries.
“If subsidy is dead, why are under-recoveries alive? If corruption was eliminated, why has opacity survived?” he asked.
Atiku clarified that his proposal is not a return to the previous open-ended subsidy regime but a targeted and temporary production-support mechanism aimed at boosting domestic refining and shielding consumers from excessive price shocks. He maintained that economic policies must adapt to changed realities rather than cling to outdated prescriptions.
He further criticised the argument that higher Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements to states represent success, describing it as “economically shallow” and an admission of developmental failure.
“You do not build a federation by impoverishing citizens so that Abuja can send bigger cheques to governors. That is robbing households to subsidise governments,” Atiku said.
The former Vice President concluded that genuine economic reform is measured by improved living standards for citizens, not by inflated government revenues while poverty deepens. He insisted that Nigerians have already paid a heavy price for the current policies and should not be subjected to further hardship.