Atiku Abubakar, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has criticised the Tinubu-led government over its continued payment of the fuel subsidy.
In a statement issued via X on Wednesday, the former vice president expressed shock and concern about the government’s ongoing support for downstream consumption.
Atiku’s remarks came shortly after the government acknowledged that fuel subsidy expenditures are projected to rise to ₦5.4 trillion in 2024.
Atiku highlighted that despite President Bola Tinubu’s announcement of the subsidy abolition on May 29, 2023, the administration continues to pay subsidies covertly.
He stated: “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.
“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.”
Atiku accused the federal government of deceit, suggesting that it continues to fund fuel subsidy while publicly claiming otherwise.
He concluded: “Now we know that expenditure on fuel subsidy may reach N5.4 trillion in 2024, compared to the N3.6 trillion spent in 2023, the same year that Tinubu claimed to have abolished fuel subsidy.
“I wish to restate that Nigeria is not working, and what we have had in a little over a year is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies.
‘Paying subsidies and lying about it is nothing to brag about. Nigerians deserve better than this deception.”
Hours after Atiku’s comment, the presidency insisted that payment of subsidy on fuel was gone.
“The government wants to restate that its position on fuel subsidy has not changed from what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared on 29 May 2023.
“The fuel subsidy regime has ended. There is no N5.4 trillion being provisioned for it in 2024, as being widely speculated and discussed,” presidential aide Bayo Onanuga said.
SEE THE POST BELOW:
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…
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) June 5, 2024
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