Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has raised the alarm after the pump price of petrol rose to N1,470 per litre.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the increase in fuel prices had further worsened the cost-of-living burden on Nigerians.
He noted that every increase in the fuel pump price directly impacts the budgets of households across Nigeria, particularly through transportation and food costs.
Atiku queried the rationale behind the removal of fuel subsidies when the savings could not be deployed to alleviate the hardship faced by Nigerians.
He said, “Petrol at N1,470 per litre is not merely a figure at the filling station. It enters the price of transportation, food, school runs, farming, manufacturing and virtually everything Nigerians buy. Every increase at the pump travels directly into the household budget.
“After all the pain imposed on Nigerians, they have a right to ask: where are the subsidy savings and where is the money?”
The ADC presidential candidate added that when crude oil was at $147 per barrel, petrol sold for N65 per litre under the late former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, compared with N1,470 per litre when crude oil is currently around $102 per barrel.
“With crude oil around $102.52 per barrel, Nigerians are paying as much as N1,470 per litre. In 2008, when crude oil reached about $147 per barrel, petrol sold at N65 per litre under the Yar’Adua administration. The difference is that government then understood that economic policy must ultimately protect the welfare of citizens,” he stressed.
Petrol at N1,470/litre: Atiku questions Tinubu’s govt on fuel subsidy savings