Photo Credit: The Sun Nigeria / Presidency / File photo of Atiku Abubakar and Bayo Onanuga
Presidency Slams Atiku Over Fuel Subsidy Proposal, Demands Cost Breakdown
The Presidency has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of inconsistency over his stance on petrol subsidy, saying his recent comments represent his third different position in less than a week.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, said the contradictory statements from Atiku and his media aides showed a lack of a clear and costed economic plan.

According to Onanuga, Atiku’s spokesperson, Paul Ibe, had earlier stated that Atiku would restore subsidy as a temporary measure to cushion hardship and then phase it out. Another aide, Phrank Shaibu, later dismissed that explanation as unauthorized, saying Atiku would keep subsidy until local refining capacity improves and market competition drives down prices.

Atiku later clarified his own position, saying it had not changed and that he would restore a “targeted subsidy” to restore purchasing power to Nigerians.

The Presidency said the conflicting explanations go beyond semantics and amount to policy confusion.

“This is not merely a matter of semantics. It is a serious policy contradiction and confusion. Nigerians deserve clarity, not policy by trial and error,” Onanuga said.

The Presidency challenged the former Vice President to provide details of his targeted subsidy proposal, including its total cost, intended beneficiaries, identification process, funding source, and the economic conditions for ending it.

Onanuga argued that Atiku’s claim that subsidy plus competition would automatically lower petrol prices ignores other factors that determine pump price, such as global crude oil prices, exchange rate, refining cost, logistics and distribution.

He also faulted the linkage of high food prices solely to petrol price, noting that insecurity, low agricultural productivity, storage, flooding, input costs and money supply also drive food inflation.

Onanuga said the Tinubu administration had taken steps in the last three years to restore fiscal health to federal, state and local governments and to stabilize the economy, warning that replacing the old subsidy with a new opaque regime would reverse those gains.

He further questioned Atiku’s suggestion that subsidy would “follow the barrel of crude,” pointing out that petrol makes up about 45% of products from a barrel, diesel about 25%, and aviation fuel and kerosene about 9%.

Onanuga asked if Atiku also plans to subsidize diesel and kerosene, which are widely used by low-income households, small businesses and transporters, and whether refineries given discounted crude would be allowed to make profit from other by-products while only petrol is subsidized.

“The economy is too serious for policy somersaults, incoherence, destructive populism and election gimmicks,” he said.

SOURCE: The Sun Nigeria –