Atiku’ll Restore Petrol Subsidy, Phase It Out Later – Aide

The spokesperson of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has said his principal, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027 and phase it out later.

He stated this while speaking to AIT, adding that the temporary removal would give Nigerians and businesses room to recover, stimulate economic activity and improve productivity.

While maintaining that Atiku’s proposal to restore subsidy would not revive the old subsidy regime, he said it would instead tie government support to crude oil production and domestic refining.

Ibe said: “We are not returning to Egypt. We are not going back to the old regime that was opaque.

“What he’s simply saying is that the subsidy that he is advocating will be tied to the barrel, the crude oil barrel.

“This is perhaps the only thing that we have in so much abundance that Nigerians have not yet benefited from.”

He said crude oil would be supplied to local refiners at a discounted price to enable them produce petrol and diesel at lower costs, stressing that the cheaper production cost would ultimately translate into lower pump prices for consumers.

According to him, an independent committee would be set up to determine the appropriate fuel price at the refinery, taking prevailing market conditions into consideration.

He said although the downstream petroleum sector had been deregulated, government could still monitor prices to ensure that refiners and marketers operated within the framework of the policy.

Ibe said the intervention would be implemented for a limited period to stimulate economic activity and improve productivity.

“Yes, if you recall, his argument, even in 2023, was that they’re going to have recourse to having a phased removal,” he said.

Criticising the Tinubu administration for removing petrol subsidy alongside other major economic reforms, he said: “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.

“But what has this administration done? The issue of subsidy, flippant. No cabinet. No advisers. Just in the heat of the moment, it has been removed. No shock absorbers. Nothing. No palliatives. Absolutely nothing.”

He said the simultaneous removal of petrol subsidy, deregulation of foreign exchange and electricity subsidy had compounded the hardship facing Nigerians.

“You need to give Nigerians and give manufacturers an opportunity to ensure that there is productivity,” he said.

“There is little or no productivity in this economy because, I mean, you talk about paying salary, that’s what they are doing there. There is no creativity. They’re simply having plenty of naira as a result of the devaluation.”