2027: Atiku’s Fuel Subsidy Plan Is Not Return to Old Regime – Campaign Spokesman

Atiku Abubakar’s 2027 presidential campaign has defended his proposal to restore petrol subsidy, arguing that the plan is designed to make fuel more affordable rather than revive the costly subsidy system of the past.

Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesperson for the former vice-president’s campaign, made the clarification during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. He said President Bola Tinubu had misunderstood the proposal put forward by Atiku, who is running for president under the African Democratic Congress, ADC.

Atiku had announced that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected in 2027, reigniting debate over the policy that was removed by the Tinubu administration. The proposal has drawn particular attention because Atiku supported subsidy removal during the 2023 presidential campaign.

Tinubu criticised the former vice-president’s position, describing it as evidence of what he called “serious ignorance of governance and economy.” The President has repeatedly defended the removal of the subsidy, which he said had placed a heavy burden on government finances.

Okonkwo, however, said Atiku was not proposing a return to the former system, which he blamed on Nigeria’s dependence on imported petrol and alleged abuses surrounding subsidy payments. He said the central objective of Atiku’s proposal was to ensure that ordinary Nigerians could buy fuel at a lower price.

“The whole idea of the Atiku plan is affordability of fuel to the ordinary Nigerian,” he said.

Okonkwo described the proposal as the Atiku Fuel Affordability Plan (AFAP). He said it would rely on increased domestic refining and government intervention to ensure local refineries have access to Nigerian crude at a price that allows them to produce petrol more cheaply.

He argued that Nigeria’s previous subsidy structure became vulnerable to corruption because the country depended heavily on imported petrol. According to him, the government should instead focus on using domestic refining capacity and affordable crude supplies to reduce the cost of fuel.

“Atiku is not going back to that and cannot even go back to that,” Okonkwo said.

The debate over petrol subsidy is likely to remain a major issue in the 2027 presidential election, with Atiku’s camp presenting fuel affordability as a key part of its economic agenda while the Tinubu administration continues to defend subsidy removal and its broader economic reforms.