Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar will restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027, but the intervention will be temporary and eventually phased out, his spokesperson, Paul Ibe, has said.
Ibe made the clarification while speaking on AIT amid the growing political debate over Atiku’s proposal to reintroduce a form of government support for petrol prices.
According to him, Atiku’s plan is not a return to the old subsidy system, which he described as opaque and difficult to account for. Rather, the proposal would link government intervention to crude oil production and domestic refining.
“We are not returning to Egypt. We are not going back to the old regime that was opaque,” Ibe said.
He explained that crude oil would be supplied to local refineries at a discounted rate, allowing them to produce petrol and diesel at lower costs. The savings, he said, would ultimately be reflected in pump prices and provide relief to consumers and businesses.
“The crude oil will be sold at a discounted price, subsidised to refiners, and that will enable refiners to be able to produce fuel and diesel at a cheap cost,” he said.
Ibe said an independent committee would determine an appropriate refinery price based on prevailing market conditions. Although the downstream petroleum sector has been deregulated, he argued that government could still monitor prices to ensure that refiners and marketers operate within the framework of the policy.
He stressed that the intervention would not be permanent.
According to him, the objective would be to give Nigerians, manufacturers and businesses enough breathing space to recover from the economic impact of recent reforms, improve productivity and stimulate economic activity before the subsidy is eventually phased out.
“Yes, if you recall, his argument, even in 2023, was that they’re going to have recourse to having a phased removal,” Ibe said.
Ibe criticises Tinubu’s approach
The Atiku spokesperson also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for removing petrol subsidy while simultaneously implementing other major economic reforms.
He argued that the government should have introduced the reforms gradually and allowed Nigerians and businesses time to adjust.
“No surgeon, no doctor would carry out two or more serious major surgeries, one after the other. They would do one, allow the patient to recuperate, and then undertake the second, or the third,” Ibe said.
He said the simultaneous removal of petrol subsidy, foreign exchange deregulation and electricity subsidy had increased the economic pressure on Nigerians.
Ibe argued that Atiku’s proposed intervention would provide temporary relief while creating room for businesses to increase production and strengthen the wider economy.
“You need to give Nigerians and give manufacturers an opportunity to ensure that there is productivity,” he said.
He also maintained that Atiku’s economic agenda would look beyond crude oil by pursuing diversification and reducing Nigeria’s dependence on petroleum revenue.
The debate over subsidy has intensified following Atiku’s proposal, with Tinubu criticising the idea as evidence of “serious ignorance on governance and economy.”
Atiku has since defended his position, insisting that he is not proposing a return to the former subsidy regime but a targeted, capped, budgeted and independently audited intervention aimed at supporting domestic production and reducing the burden of fuel costs on Nigerians.