Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Federal Government’s proposed 30-day fuel discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited stations, describing it as a temporary measure that would not address the rising cost of living.
In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku described the proposed discount as a desperate political gesture ahead of the next election.
He accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of allowing Nigerians to endure prolonged economic hardship before offering temporary relief.
“Atiku totally rejects this calendar-scheduled, election-laced subsidy package. Nigerians are not fools to be offered a month of discounted fuel after years of punishing prices and then expected to forget the hardship when the discount expires. This is shameless and heartless,” he said.
The former vice president argued that the proposed discount was not a sustainable economic policy but a temporary response to the hardship facing households and businesses.
“What happens on Day 31? Nigerians wake up to the same brutal prices, the same punishing transport fares and the same rising cost of food. The government cannot manufacture relief for one month and expect Nigerians to applaud while the hardship remains,” he said.
Atiku also questioned the restriction of the proposed discount to NNPC stations, noting that the government had yet to specify the amount motorists would save per litre or guarantee that transport operators would pass any savings on to passengers through reduced fares.
He described the proposed intervention as an admission that the government could take measures to ease the burden on Nigerians, contrary to its previous position that meaningful relief was difficult to achieve.
“This volte-face proves that the production-support proposal I have advanced is workable, achievable and not complicated. The Tinubu government and its spin doctors have tried to make it sound impossible, yet they are now reaching for a temporary subsidy-style intervention because the pain has become impossible to ignore,” Atiku said.
He reiterated his proposal for capped and budgeted production support tied to fuel refined in Nigeria, with safeguards to ensure consumers benefit and domestic refining is supported.
“Nigerians need lasting relief, not a countdown to the return of hardship. Tinubu’s government cannot spend years telling Nigerians to endure, then offer 30 days of relief and call it a solution,” he said.
Atiku reaffirmed his commitment to reducing the cost of living, declaring, “Tinubu made life expensive. I will make life affordable again.”