Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has criticized President Bola Tinubu for allegedly misleading Nigerians about his administration’s stance on fuel subsidy.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, Atiku claimed that despite Tinubu’s public statements suggesting the removal of fuel subsidy, his administration has been secretly paying trillions of naira as subsidy on petrol.
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, stated that subsidy payments under Tinubu’s administration may reach N5.4 trillion this year, contradicting the president’s public stance, according to Vanguard.
He urged Tinubu to be transparent and honest with Nigerians about his administration’s policies and actions regarding fuel subsidy.
Atiku said, “President Bola Tinubu, at his inauguration on May 29, 2023, announced the abolishment of the subsidy on PMS, popularly known as fuel.
“Ever since, it has been a bragging right of Tinubu and officials of his administration.
“I had in my statement reviewing the one year of the Bola Tinubu administration urged the government to come clean on the actual position of the subsidy policy.
“These were my exact words: “…provide clarity on the fuel subsidy regime, including the fiscal commitments and benefits from the fuel subsidy reform and the impact of this on the Federation Accounts.
“It is curious that since April 2024, fuel queues have mounted at many filling stations across Nigeria, and the infamous ‘black market’ has sprouted in several states.
“How much PMS is being imported and distributed, and at what cost? What is the implicit subsidy?
“If the subsidy regime had been characterised by opaqueness, what would we say of a situation where the subsidy is still being paid under the cover without Nigerians in the know?
“Like millions of Nigerians, I was shocked to learn through media reports that
the “government is still supporting downstream consumption.”
