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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Presidency has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of being desperate for power over his proposal to restore petrol subsidy if elected President in 2027, describing the policy as a dangerous reversal of Nigeria’s ongoing economic and petroleum-sector reforms.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the accusation in a statement on Thursday titled “Restoring Petrol Subsidies: Atiku’s Volte-Face and Desperation for Power.”
The Presidency said Atiku’s decision to campaign on the restoration of petrol subsidy represented a major departure from the position he canvassed ahead of the 2023 presidential election.
According to Onanuga, Atiku was entitled to propose alternative policies, but his promise should be subjected to scrutiny, particularly on how such a programme would be financed.
“Desperate for power, he needed to make a promise that he knew, if he were candid with our people, does not make fiscal sense, is retrogressive, and is against the genuine interest of the people,” Onanuga said.
The Presidency argued that the former subsidy regime was not a simple government discount but a system in which the public sector absorbed the difference between the actual cost of petrol and the regulated pump price.
“The petrol subsidy regime that Nigerians knew before May 2023 was dismantled as part of the country’s petroleum-sector reforms,” the statement said.
It added that any attempt to restore the arrangement would require a new legal, fiscal and administrative framework, including identifying the source of funding.
The Presidency also dismissed claims that the removal of subsidy had generated a N30 trillion savings windfall.
“Contrary to Atiku’s claim in his interview, no N30 trillion subsidy windfall or savings exists anywhere except in his imagination,” Onanuga said.
It further argued that Nigeria’s petroleum industry had changed significantly since the subsidy was removed, particularly with the emergence of large-scale domestic refining capacity.
The Presidency cited the Dangote Refinery as a major beneficiary of the new market structure, arguing that its local petrol production would have been difficult to establish under the former subsidy regime.
“The Dangote Refinery would not have kickstarted production for local consumption were the subsidy regime operative,” the statement said.
Onanuga warned that returning to the old subsidy structure could threaten smaller domestic refineries, discourage local investment and reverse the country’s progress towards reducing dependence on imported petroleum products.
The Presidency also claimed that the resources previously deployed to subsidise petrol were now contributing to increased revenue available to the three tiers of government.
“The N15 trillion that would have been borrowed and spent on selling discounted petrol has now significantly gone into the coffers of the three tiers of government,” it said.
It added that the three tiers shared about N3 trillion from the Federation Account in July, describing the figure as a record.
The Presidency challenged Atiku to explain what a restored subsidy would cost the country and who would bear the burden.
“If petrol is sold below its economic cost, which is about N1,200 to N1,300, someone must absorb the difference,” Onanuga said.
He warned that the cost would ultimately have implications for public finances through reduced allocations, lower spending on infrastructure and social services, increased borrowing or higher public debt.
While acknowledging the hardship Nigerians are experiencing as a result of high energy and transportation costs, the Presidency said the solution should not be a return to what it described as an unsustainable subsidy regime.
It cited the Federal Government’s promotion of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as one alternative aimed at reducing energy costs for transport operators and businesses.
The Presidency also demanded specific answers from Atiku on the proposed subsidy, including its annual cost, funding source, legal implications and safeguards against the fraud and abuse associated with the former regime.
“Political promises must be backed by fiscal arithmetic,” Onanuga said.
He urged Atiku and other political actors to provide Nigerians with the full fiscal and legal implications of their economic proposals rather than offering what the Presidency described as politically attractive but financially unsustainable promises.
“We believe sustainable relief is different from recreating a fiscal arrangement that will again cripple our country,” the presidential aide said.
