Kwankwaso Did Not Say He Would Remove Fuel Subsidy – Peter Obi Addresses Controversial Comment

The Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has clarified his position on fuel subsidy.

Naija News recalls that the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Kwankwaso, said during a television interview that the NDC would return fuel subsidy if elected to power.

His submission contradicts Obi’s earlier position of maintaining the return of fuel subsidy.

Speaking at the 2026 All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC), organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) at the Enugu International Conference Centre (ICC), Obi stated that there was no dispute between him and the former Kano governor.

He said Kwankwaso proposed not the outright removal of the subsidy, but a different approach to the subsidy regime.

He spoke against the backdrop of reports that he and Kwankwaso held divergent positions on fuel subsidy, stressing that both had identified corruption in the system as a major problem.

“The talk is about how Kwankwaso and I differed on subsidies. No, we didn’t. What Kwankwaso said is that we will introduce our own style of subsidy. In fact, he didn’t say he would remove it,” Obi said.

He argued that the major challenge was not necessarily the availability of resources but how public funds were managed, insisting that Nigeria could fund critical sectors if corruption was substantially reduced.

“If you remove the corruption in subsidy, there might not be subsidy,” he said, describing the subsidy regime as having been characterised by “huge corruption.

“People will say, ‘Where are you going to get the money?’ The money is there!” Obi said, referring to the reported ₦15.8 trillion saved from the fuel subsidy.

He also advocated greater investment in primary healthcare, saying only about 10 per cent of primary healthcare facilities were functional.

Obi said the government could establish 10,000 primary healthcare centres at an estimated cost of ₦1 trillion, arguing that the money could come from the savings from subsidy removal.