The Federal Government and the ruling All Progressives Congress have warned against any attempt to restore petrol subsidy, arguing that reversing the policy would reopen the fiscal pressures, distortions and economic uncertainties that forced the country to abandon the regime in the first place.
The warning came on Sunday as the APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, and the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, separately responded to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for a reversal of the subsidy removal.
Tinubu announced the end of the petrol subsidy regime in his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, saying the subsidy had become unsustainable and that resources previously devoted to it would instead be channelled into infrastructure, education, healthcare and job creation.
The President has since repeatedly defended the decision, arguing that the subsidy had imposed an enormous burden on government finances.
Atiku, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, however, said he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027, arguing that Nigerians have not seen sufficient benefits from the savings generated after the subsidy was removed.
