Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, has restated his pledge to restore petrol subsidy if elected president next year.
Atiku restated his position in a post on X on Tuesday evening, in apparent response to criticisms that trailed his earlier pledge to restore the controversial petrol subsidy, removed by the Bola Tinubu administration.
“On the question of subsidy, my position has not changed and will not change: I will restore it! A nation as blessed as ours has no business abandoning its citizens to hardship. Nigeria is rich enough to look after her own,” the former vice president wrote.
Petrol subsidy has long been a disputed policy among Nigerians, with successive governments saying there was a need to remove it as the government could no longer afford it. However, proponents argued that its removal would worsen the plight of millions of Nigerians as it would lead to increases in the prices of goods and services.
President Tinubu, who defeated Atiku in the 2023 presidential election, announced the end of petrol subsidy on the day he was sworn into office.
