Former Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, has stated that Atiku Abubakar’s intention to reinstate the subsidy is politically comparable to the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023.
During an interview on Arise News, Fayemi emphasised that Atiku’s proposal represents a political manoeuvre rather than an economic solution.
The former governor is of the opinion that this campaign strategy will resonate with those adversely affected by the fuel subsidy removal implemented by the Tinubu administration.
Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has expressed his commitment to reinstating the fuel subsidy if he is elected as Nigeria’s president in 2027.
The removal of the fuel subsidy was among the initial actions taken by President Bola Tinubu upon his inauguration in May 2023, during which he declared that “fuel subsidy is gone.”
Nevertheless, while the government asserts that the savings from the subsidy removal are being allocated to infrastructure development, many Nigerians are enduring significant hardship.
“Frankly, my take on that is that Atiku’s proposal on subsidy is the political equivalent of our (APC) own Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023. It is a political strategy. It’s not an economic construct, but understandably, it is a political strategy that will sell with those who are hard done by the impact of full subsidy removal.
“I was and I remain an advocate of full subsidy removal. As chairman of the governors’ forum, I spent four years in this battle, and what President Tinubu inherited, in fairness to him, was the work that had already been completed by that administration. The only challenge I had was the way it was done. But then again, he might argue that if he had left it much later than the immediate removal that he did, he probably wouldn’t have been able to do it.
“I’ve had that argument also put across.
“So I am not in any way opposed to the decision to remove fuel subsidy. However, as I have also consistently said, because at the Nigerian Governors Forum, we actually had a committee work with the federal government and the World Bank, by the way, to develop a safety net strategy that would address what will happen to the most vulnerable segment of our population.
“So I think the way we saw the Muslim-Muslim ticket as a political strategy, in order to maximise the vote for our party in 2023, I believe that’s what the opposition candidate is also trying to take advantage of.”
2027: Atiku’s promise to reverse fuel subsidy is equivalent to APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket – Fayemi