Petrol price: No going back on subsidy removal, says Presidency

The Presidency says the call by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate Abubakar Atiku to bring back fuel subsidy will undermine the reforms already undertaken in the petroleum sector.

The Presidency said the restoration will also create legal and fiscal complications, and potentially discourage investment in domestic refining, including the Dangote refinery and other modular refineries.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said this in reaction to Atiku’s plan to bring back fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027.

Onanuga described the move as retrogressive, fiscally unsustainable and a product of “desperation to win the presidency”.

He said Nigeria’s petroleum landscape had changed fundamentally since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy.

Also speaking, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the removal of petrol subsidy had generated N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025.

According to Oyedele, N5.4 trillion accrued to the Federal Government, while N10.4 trillion has been shared among states and local governments.

Tinubu in his response said Atiku was ignorant of governance and economy.

The president spoke when he received Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke at the State House recently.

He said the plan by Atiku to reintroduce petrol subsidy was a demonstration of his high level of ignorance in governance and economy.

Tinubu had announced the removal of fuel subsidy while taking oath of office on May 29, 2023.

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The decision saw the increase in pump price of petrol from below N200 to above N1,000, leading to increases in transportation, food, and other living costs.

Atiku had also supported the removal of petrol subsidy during the 2023 campaigns.

He has however made the restoration of petrol subsidy a major part of his 2027 campaign, arguing that Nigerians have not seen sufficient benefits from the subsidy removal.

The former vice president alleged that the funds generated from the subsidy removal had not translated to food on the table of Nigerians as well as impacted on their lives.

On the oil and gas sector, he said a new intervention should be designed around domestic refining, with support capped, budgeted and tied to verifiable production and consumer benefits.

According to him, every barrel of crude allocated under his proposal will be targeted and tracked to ensure that Nigerians benefit from the intervention.

Atiku said his proposal was not a return to the opaque subsidy regime of the past, but a controlled mechanism that would support Nigerian refineries while ensuring that the benefits of cheaper crude feedstock were transmitted to consumers.