…Calls for urgent action on fuel price
By Eshioromeh Sebastian
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has urged President Bola Tinubu to use his remaining eight months in office to bring relief to Nigerians, calling for urgent action on the price of petrol and the broader cost of living.
In a national address titled “Address on Fuel Prices, Palliatives and the Cost of Living,” Atiku said the President should not be ashamed to adopt whatever measures are necessary to lower the price of fuel, even if the proposal originated from his political opponent.
The former Vice-President recalled that when he first argued for a review of the petrol subsidy withdrawal and responsible intervention to bring down the cost of fuel, Mr Tinubu dismissed his proposal as demonstrating “serious ignorance” of governance and the economy.
“My dear Bola, events since then have raised a simple question,” Atiku said. “Is the Nigeria Labour Congress also ignorant when it calls for urgent intervention to cushion workers from rising petrol prices? Are petroleum marketers ignorant when they call for policies that strengthen domestic refining and help moderate pump prices? Are Nigerian manufacturers ignorant when they warn that power-related expenses now consume more than half of operating costs? And are the millions of Nigerians crying out because they can no longer afford transportation, food and other basic necessities also ignorant?”
He warned that if everyone who questions government policy is dismissed as ignorant while only the President is presumed wise, “then we have a leadership problem on our hands.”
Atiku noted that since May 29, 2023, Nigerians have lived with the consequences of the removal of petrol subsidy without adequate protection for families, workers, farmers and businesses, adding that the burden has travelled “from the petrol station to the bus stop, from the bus stop to the market, and from the market to the family dining table.”
He said government celebrates GDP growth, higher revenues and bigger allocations, but Nigerians judge the economy by what their money can buy. “If government receives more naira while the citizen’s naira buys less food, less fuel, less electricity and less transportation, then bigger government revenues mean little to the family struggling to survive.”
The former Vice-President also cautioned against relying on palliatives in place of sound economic policy. “Do not make life unbearable and then distribute bags of rice as evidence of compassion. Do not break a man’s legs, hand him crutches and demand applause for providing mobility. Palliatives manage pain. Good policy addresses the source of the pain.”
On electricity, he warned that the lesson of petrol must not be repeated, following indications that electricity subsidies will be phased out from 2027. “Do not remove first and think later. Do not impose the pain first and search for palliatives afterwards. When energy becomes unaffordable, everything becomes unaffordable.”
Atiku said that while eight months may sound short inside Aso Rock, “eight months is a very long time when you are living from hand to mouth,” and offered to make his policy ideas and technical framework available to the government.
“If responsible intervention can lower prices, intervene. If changing course can help Nigerian families, change course,” he said. “Bola Tinubu should not be ashamed to do what is necessary to lower the price of petrol simply because Atiku Abubakar proposed a government intervention. He should just take the idea. Rename it if he wishes. And even take the credit. What matters to me is that Nigerians pay less.”
Looking ahead, Atiku said that if elected in 2027, he would introduce a transparent production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold to Nigerians, with a fixed spending limit, National Assembly approval and independent audits. Imported products, he said, would not qualify.
“I am prepared to compete with you politically. But I will never compete with the welfare of the Nigerian people,” he said. “The presidency may be contested. The wellbeing of Nigerians should never be.”
He concluded: “Nigerians do not live on statistics. They live on what their hard-earned money can buy.”
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