The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has tackled former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over his new stance on petrol subsidy.
During an interactive session on day one of the campaign for the 2027 elections, Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), vowed to restore petrol subsidy if elected into office. He went further to accuse the Tinubu government of failing to account for the funds saved from the removal of petrol subsidy.
Reacting to Atiku’s comment, Wike while speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, August 20, accused Atiku of desperation, saying he would do anything to win the presidency...READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE .
“Atiku Abubakar, who is confused and a voodoo economist, will say anything just to be president. In 2022, he said he would remove the fuel subsidy because it was a fraud. Is he going back to the fraud that he had alleged was the fuel subsidy?
We should be consistent in what we say to our people because that is what leadership is all about.”
The Minister also argued that changes in Nigeria’s petroleum industry had made the return of a broad fuel subsidy regime impractical.
He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had been commercialised under the Petroleum Industry Act and no longer operated as the sole importer or manager of refined petroleum products.
Wike further questioned how the government would subsidise petrol produced by private refineries, including the Dangote Refinery.
“Is he going to give fuel subsidy in the Dangote Refinery? The fuel produced by Dangote Refinery, it’s not going to be possible. Tell people the simple truth” he added
The FCT Minister commended President Tinubu for ending the fuel subsidy regime, saying the resulting increase in government revenues had boosted allocations to the federal, state and local governments.
He argued that without the reform, the country would have continued to face challenges including industrial strikes, delays in salary payments and unpaid pensions.
