Atiku Berates Tinubu Over Fuel Subsidy ‘Misinformation’

Posted by Nwa Diokpa Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Wednesday, June 5th, 2024

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has slammed President Bola Tinubu’s administration for allegedly reintroducing fuel subsidy payment through the backdoor and telling Nigerians otherwise.

Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, disclosed this in a statement uploaded on his X on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.

It is worth recalling that President Tinubu in his inauguration speech on May 25, 2023, stated that his administration will put an end to subsidy and this immediately triggered an increase in the price of petrol from ₦180 to over ₦600.

However, contrary to public belief, there are reports that the Federal Government still pays subsidies on fuel.

Reacting to this development, Atiku stated that he was shocked to “learn through media reports that the ‘government is still supporting downstream consumption”.
He continued: “If the subsidy regime had been characterised by opaqueness, what would we say of a situation where the subsidy is still being paid under the cover without Nigerians in the know?

“Like millions of Nigerians, I was shocked to learn through media reports that the government is still supporting downstream consumption.

“Now we know that expenditure on fuel subsidy may reach N5.4 trillion in 2024, compared to the N3.6 trillion spent in 2023, the same year that Tinubu claimed to have abolished fuel subsidy.

“I wish to restate that Nigeria is not working, and what we have had in a little over a year is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies. Paying subsidies and lying about it is nothing to brag about. Nigerians deserve better than this deception. -AA.”