Chuks Okocha in Abuja
Spokesman for the 2027 presidential campaign of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr. Kenneth Okonkwo, has defended his principal’s proposal to restore petrol subsidy, saying the policy was designed to make fuel affordable to Nigerians rather than revive the old subsidy regime.
Okonkwo said President Bola Tinubu misunderstood Atiku’s proposal, which he described as the Atiku Fuel Affordability Plan (AFAP).
Featuring on Channels Television, Okonkwo said Atiku was not advocating a return to the controversial subsidy system that relied heavily on imported petrol.
“The whole idea of the Atiku plan is affordability of fuel to the ordinary Nigerian,” he said.
Atiku had said he would restore petrol subsidy if elected in 2027.
However, Tinubu subsequently described the proposal as evidence of “serious ignorance of governance and economy,” arguing that the old subsidy regime imposed a huge financial burden on the country.
But Okonkwo dismissed the criticism, insisting that Atiku’s proposal was fundamentally different from the previous system.
“It is ignorant of Tinubu to say that Atiku wants to go back to the subsidy of the old,” he said.
According to him, the plan would leverage Nigeria’s growing domestic refining capacity by ensuring that local refineries have access to crude oil at affordable prices.
“I will supply the needed crude to our local refineries at a price that will be fair enough for them to use to produce the fuel at a reduced and affordable price to Nigerians,” Okonkwo said.
He argued that affordable crude supply would reduce refinery production costs and translate into lower petrol prices for consumers.
Okonkwo also blamed the old subsidy regime on Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel, saying it created opportunities for manipulation of import volumes and subsidy payments.
“This was the way the subsidy of the old operated. They were importing 100% of the fuel. We didn’t have any refinery. Atiku is not going back to that and cannot even go back to that,” he added.