2027: Atiku tackles Tinubu over fuel price

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has hit back at President Bola Tinubu over his criticism of proposals to reduce energy costs, accusing the administration of making Nigerians endure years of economic hardship while promising relief only as the 2027 elections approach.

Atiku, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, said the central issue was not a personal contest between him and Tinubu but the inability of millions of Nigerians to afford basic necessities.

Shaibu, in a statement released on Tuesday titled, “Tinubu, the issue is not Atiku — it is why Nigerians can no longer afford to live,” said Atiku would not engage the president in a personal exchange but would continue to defend policies aimed at reducing the cost of living.

He said, “Atiku has more important people to engage directly: the mother struggling to feed her children; the civil servant whose salary disappears into transportation; the farmer paying more to move produce to market; the student being pushed into debt simply to remain in school; and millions of Nigerians whose daily reality bears no resemblance to the prosperity advertised in your tweets.”

The statement was a response to Tinubu’s recent remarks on economic policy, in which the president criticised Atiku’s proposals to reduce the cost of energy and dismissed the possibility of returning to the era of fuel subsidy.

Shaibu questioned why the administration was now promising cheaper transportation, increased food production and relief for vulnerable Nigerians after more than three years of hardship.

“Why did Nigerians have to suffer for more than three years before your government discovered that economic growth must reach ‘the dining table and the pocket ‘. Why is intervention backwards when Atiku proposes it, but progressive when you announce it?,” he asked.

The statement argued that reducing the cost of energy would have a wider impact on the economy by lowering transportation and production costs and ultimately reducing prices of food and other essential goods.

The statement noted that the Atiku Economic Recovery Plan would provide targeted support for Nigerian crude supplied for domestic refining under a capped and transparently budgeted framework.

According to him, the proposal would include tracking of crude supplied, monitoring of refined products and a consumer pass-through mechanism to ensure that the benefit of the intervention reaches consumers.

“The economics is straightforward. Reduce fuel costs, and you reduce pressure on transportation. Reduce transportation costs, and you reduce the cost of moving tomatoes, rice, yam, livestock and manufactured goods,” he said.