‘Atiku restoring fuel subsidy outright deception meant to win election’ – Shehu Sani

Former Kaduna Central senator, Shehu Sani, has said the promise by the African Democratic Congress, ADC, candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to restore fuel subsidy is a “political Trojan horse” aimed at winning the 2027 presidential election.

Recounting that Atiku had supported the removal of fuel subsidy in the past, Sani said the ADC presidential candidate’s pledge was impracticable.

Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Sani insisted that Atiku’s pledge is a way of deceiving Nigerians.

He said, “What he is saying is outright deception of Nigerians.”

The former lawmaker noted that Atiku had, throughout his political history and campaigns, supported the removal of subsidy.

“As someone who has always subscribed to Bretton Woods Institutions neoliberal economic policies, someone who believes in World Bank and IMF prescriptions, devaluation of currency, privatisation of public enterprises and all sorts of capitalist bourgeoisie economic policies, and someone who has, throughout his political history and campaigns, stood for the removal of subsidy, for someone now to make a reversal simply because he needs votes, there is a need for Nigerians to seriously not take what he has said at face value,” Sani said.

He maintained that returning subsidy would be difficult because Nigeria spent trillions of naira subsidising petroleum products in the past.

“For a number of reasons, what he said is virtually impracticable,” he said.

“We have also seen how beneficiaries of subsidies use this mantra of subsidy to defraud our country. Many of them have cases in court where hundreds of billions of naira were looted and diverted from the national treasury in the name of importing petroleum products under the subsidy regime.

“I know very well that the removal of subsidy is causing a lot of hardship and economic suffering in the lives of our people, and it has been one policy that has created bad blood between ordinary Nigerians and this administration,” he said.