Atiku Must Explain U-Turn on Fuel Subsidy, Says Morka

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar to explain his decision to support the return of fuel subsidy after campaigning for its removal during the 2023 presidential election.

APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said Atiku’s proposal for a production subsidy was “opaque and inexplicable”, arguing that the former vice-president must explain why his position had changed.

Morka spoke on TVC News’ Beyond the Headlines with Nifemi Oguntoye on Wednesday.

According to him, Atiku had openly campaigned for the removal of fuel subsidy during the 2023 election, while President Bola Tinubu also campaigned on the policy and subsequently implemented it after winning the election.

“Now, Atiku Abubakar has since recanted his position and now is telling Nigerians he’s returning that system of fuel subsidy, which he condemned vigorously just a few years ago,” Morka said.

He challenged Atiku to explain the circumstances behind the change in position and, more importantly, identify the source of funding for the proposed subsidy.

Morka argued that the debate should be based on economic realities rather than political sentiment, insisting that the removal of subsidy was necessary to prevent the economy from collapsing.

He said Nigeria had previously been spending about 93 per cent of its revenues on subsidy payments and debt servicing, leaving the government with little fiscal space to meet other obligations.

The APC spokesman dismissed suggestions that Atiku’s change of position was simply a response to changing economic circumstances.

“If Atiku Abubakar has decided that his position previously was untenable, then he bears a fundamental responsibility to tell Nigerians why he held that position and why that position has changed,” he said.

Atiku’s proposal has been presented as a production subsidy rather than the consumption subsidy abolished by the Tinubu administration.

The former vice-president and the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) argue that targeted intervention in fuel production could lower pump prices without returning to the previous subsidy regime.

Morka, however, maintained that Nigerians should not be promised an easy solution to the economic challenges created by years of dependence on subsidised fuel.

He said any attempt to reverse the reform could undermine the gains the government claims to have achieved in the economy.