Former Anambra State governor and 2027 presidential hopeful Peter Obi has disagreed with Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore Nigeria’s petrol subsidy if elected president.
Speaking at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Obi maintained that removing the subsidy was necessary but criticised the Federal Government for what he described as poor management of the funds saved from its removal.
Obi argued that the problem was not necessarily the removal of the subsidy, but the failure to properly utilise the resources recovered from the policy.
“I subscribe and I maintain that we need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds should not be the reason for not removing it.”
The former governor said the government should have prepared measures to cushion the effect of the policy before implementing it, particularly by providing Nigerians with alternatives that would reduce the impact of higher fuel prices.
He also alleged that the money saved from subsidy removal was being mismanaged instead of being channelled into projects that would directly benefit Nigerians.
According to Obi, he had already proposed a more organised approach to subsidy removal in his 2023 presidential campaign manifesto.
“I said it before, I said I will do it in an organised manner and whatever we recover would be invested appropriately.”
His position puts him at odds with Atiku Abubakar, who has proposed reversing the subsidy removal if he wins the 2027 presidential election.
President Bola Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy shortly after assuming office on May 29, 2023. The decision led to a sharp increase in petrol prices and intensified economic pressure on Nigerian households and businesses.
While the Federal Government has defended the policy as necessary to reduce the government’s financial burden and redirect funds toward development, the rising cost of living and questions over how the savings are being spent continue to dominate the political debate.
With the 2027 election approaching, the opposing positions of Obi and Atiku suggest that fuel subsidy will remain one of the major economic issues Nigerians will be watching closely.
