Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has questioned the Federal Government’s claim that petrol subsidy has been removed, arguing that public funds are still being used to support the petroleum sector while Nigerians face rising fuel prices and living costs.
He also accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of giving generous fiscal incentives to oil investors while failing to provide similar relief to ordinary Nigerians.
Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the comments in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.
He cited the government’s deep offshore oil and gas incentives framework, which provides eligible petroleum projects with production tax credits of between $3 and $4.50 per barrel, with additional incentives potentially taking the total benefit to $11.50 per barrel under certain conditions.
Atiku questioned the rationale behind such interventions, asking why government support should be considered necessary for investors but unacceptable when targeted at citizens struggling with the rising cost of living.
He also pointed to figures contained in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s audited accounts, which he said showed about N4.84 trillion in energy-security expenses and related shortfalls in 2023 and N7.13 trillion in 2024.
According to him, NNPC had explained that part of the expenditure resulted from the difference between the exchange rate used to determine the regulated PMS ex-coastal price and the prevailing exchange rate when import obligations were settled.
Atiku therefore asked how the government could claim that subsidy was gone when public resources were still being used to bridge the gap between the economic cost of petrol and its selling price.
Atiku proposes targeted intervention
The former vice-president clarified that his proposed economic recovery plan would not restore the previous open-ended and opaque subsidy regime.
Instead, he said he would introduce a targeted and capped intervention that would be transparently budgeted and independently audited, alongside measures to expand domestic refining, improve competition and restore household purchasing power.
Atiku also called for greater transparency regarding tax credits, remissions and other incentives granted to petroleum companies.
He demanded details of the beneficiaries, the amount of revenue forgone by the government and the investments delivered in exchange for the incentives.
He argued that Nigerian investors should also have equal and transparent access to comparable incentives.
Atiku said the effectiveness of economic reforms should ultimately be judged by whether they improve Nigerians’ living standards rather than by the amount of hardship citizens are forced to endure.
He had last week pledged to restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027, a proposal Tinubu criticised, describing Atiku as “ignorant of governance and the economy.”
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