I’ll not resurrect old fuel subsidy — Atiku tells Nigerians plans to cut petrol price

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has said he will not resurrect the old fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria if elected president in the 2027 general election.

He disclosed this in a statement by his media team on Wednesday, explaining how he would cut the price of petrol.

DAILY POST reports that in a recent interview, Atiku had backed the return of fuel subsidy in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.

In a fresh detail on Wednesday, Atiku explained that his administration, if elected, would replace Nigeria’s old import-subsidy architecture with a targeted, capped, transparently budgeted and independently audited production subsidy designed to lower energy costs while accelerating domestic refining.

“My proposal is not to resurrect the old subsidy regime. We will move subsidy from importation to production, from middlemen to Nigerian refineries, and from unverifiable claims to verifiable barrels.

“The principle is simple: the subsidy will follow the barrel,” he stated.

According to him, supplying crude below its market-equivalent value represents a real opportunity cost to the Federation.

“The cost will be known. The ceiling will be known. The beneficiaries will be known. And, most importantly, the benefit delivered to Nigerians will be measurable.

“We will determine what Nigeria can afford before we subsidise. We will not subsidise first and discover the bill afterwards,” he stated.

He noted that his model for fuel subsidy would prevent refinery owners from pocketing the benefit of preferential crude without passing it on to consumers.

“No refinery would receive subsidised crude without a corresponding, independently verified quantity of petroleum products being supplied to the Nigerian market under a transparent pricing formula reflecting the benefit of the preferential crude price.

“Crude allocation, refinery intake, production yields, inventories and domestic deliveries would be reconciled, ensuring that every subsidised barrel can be followed from allocation through refining to the Nigerian consumer.

“No phantom cargoes. No fictitious imports. No unverifiable under-recoveries. No retrospective claims.

“If you receive subsidised Nigerian crude, you must refine it in Nigeria, supply the agreed products to Nigerians and pass the benefit to Nigerians. Otherwise, you do not qualify,” he stated.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy in May 2023, which led to a sharp increase in petrol prices.

The Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, said on Tuesday that the government had received N15.8 trillion in fuel subsidy savings but spent N30.64 trillion on incremental expenditures from June 2023 to December 2025.