Atiku’ll restore petrol subsidy, phase it out later — Spokesman

Spokesperson for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe, has said his principal would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027 but would gradually phase out the intervention after the economy recovers.

Ibe, who spoke on AIT on Tuesday, said the proposed subsidy would differ from the former subsidy regime, as government support would be tied to crude oil production and domestic refining.

He said the policy would provide temporary relief to Nigerians and businesses, stimulate economic activity and improve productivity.

“What he’s simply saying is that the subsidy that he is advocating will be tied to the barrel, the crude oil barrel. This is perhaps the only thing that we have in so much abundance that Nigerians have not yet benefited from,” Ibe said.

According to him, crude oil would be supplied to local refiners at a discounted price, enabling them to produce petrol and diesel at lower costs, which would translate into reduced pump prices for consumers.

“The crude oil will be sold at a discounted price, subsidised to refiners, and that will enable refiners to be able to produce fuel and diesel at a cheap cost. And when they produce cheaply, they will sell at the real pump price,” he said.

Ibe said an independent committee would determine the appropriate price of crude oil supplied to refiners, taking prevailing market conditions into account.

He added that despite the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector, government could monitor prices to ensure refiners and marketers operated within the framework of the policy.

“There’ll be a window because, of course, we deregulated. You may not fix the price but you can have price monitoring to ensure that everybody aligns with what government hopes to achieve,” he said.

Ibe said the intervention would be temporary and aimed at reviving economic activity and increasing productivity.

“It is not something that is… It is for a time, and it is essentially to ensure that we jumpstart this economy,” he said.

The former vice-president’s spokesman also criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu for removing petrol subsidy alongside other major economic reforms without allowing the economy sufficient time to adjust.

“No surgeon, no doctor would carry out two or more serious major surgeries, one after the other. They would do one, allow the patient to recuperate, and then undertake the second, or the third,” Ibe said.

“But what has this administration done? The issue of subsidy, flippant. No cabinet. No advisers. Just in the heat of the moment, it has been removed. No shock absorbers. Nothing. No palliatives. Absolutely nothing.”

He argued that the simultaneous removal of petrol subsidy, deregulation of the foreign exchange market and electricity subsidy had worsened the economic hardship faced by Nigerians.

Ibe said restoring the intervention would give households and businesses the opportunity to recover and improve productivity.

“You need to give Nigerians and give manufacturers an opportunity to ensure that there is productivity,” he said.

His comments came amid an ongoing disagreement between Atiku and Tinubu over the former vice-president’s proposal to restore petrol subsidy.

Tinubu had previously dismissed Atiku’s proposal as evidence of “serious ignorance on governance and economy.”