Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has pledged to restore Nigeria's petrol subsidy if he wins the 2027 presidential election, while demanding accountability for the funds the current administration claims were saved from its removal. The former vice president made the remarks during a televised interview on Wednesday, speaking partly in Hausa, as reported by TheCable. He said his concern was not with the subsidy removal itself but with the failure of the current administration to demonstrate how the savings had been utilized.
Atiku Questions Where Subsidy Savings Went
Atiku directly questioned the handling of funds that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's government says were saved from ending the subsidy. "I did not oppose the removal of the oil subsidy, but where is the money? Where did it go? It was intended to reduce poverty and help children attend school. Where is the money now? It seems they are just stealing it," he stated. He added that anyone who misappropriated the funds would be held accountable, declaring, "If elected, I will bring back the oil subsidy, and whoever stole the money must refund it."
Conditions for Subsidy Removal According to Atiku
According to The Guardian, Atiku argued that the decision to scrap the subsidy could have been defensible had the savings been redirected into development. He contended that with proper management, a future government could again remove the subsidy and use the proceeds more effectively. "The government successfully removed the subsidy, but we do not know where the money went. If they had used the money for development, to solve security problems, for education, and to create opportunities for the youth, it would be different. If elected, I can remove the subsidy and use the money to do all these properly," he said.
Tinubu Administration Reports N15.8 Trillion Saved
President Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, a move that immediately drove up the cost of living, with prices of goods and transport rising sharply across the country. Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele presented a reform scorecard showing how much the government raised from fuel subsidy and FX changes, revealing that the removal generated N15.8 trillion for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025. The Federal Government received N5.4 trillion of the total, while states and local governments shared the remaining N10.4 trillion. Oyedele also disclosed that the government borrowed an additional N11.9 trillion during the same 30-month period to meet spending needs. Several state governors have since reported that their monthly allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) rose considerably after the subsidy was scrapped. Atiku's pledge puts him at odds with the current administration's position and sets up the subsidy question as a key fault line heading into the 2027 general elections.
