Atiku’s fuel subsidy plan impracticable, financially unsustainable

Abdul’aziz Abdula’ziz, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Enlightenment, has dismissed former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restore fuel subsidy if elected president, describing the proposal as impracticable and financially unsustainable.

Abdulaziz, who spoke in an interview with DCL on Friday, argued that Nigeria’s subsidy regime placed a heavy burden on government finances, with subsidy payments eventually reaching about N1 trillion.

He said restoring the policy under current consumption levels could require at least N1.5 trillion every month, questioning where the government would raise such funds.

“If Atiku decides to bring back subsidy, as he claims, you would actually be needing not less than N1.5 trillion every month to pay for the subsidy. Where can we get that money?” he said

Abdulaziz also rejected the argument that the removal of subsidy had created a large pool of cash that the Federal Government could simply distribute for development.

According to him, “When people say subsidy savings, yes, there is saving in a way, but it’s not like money you remove from somewhere. It’s just like you stop haemorrhage, you stop leakage.”

“Money that would have otherwise been used for subsidy, it has now been repurposed. It has now been channelled to finance critical government institutions, to finance critical projects, and to also finance government in itself, in the whole of the country,” he added.

The presidential aide acknowledged that Nigerians may not immediately see the benefits of the subsidy reform, arguing that economic reforms often take time before their impact becomes fully evident.

He cited the student loan scheme as one of the measures through which the government was easing financial pressure on families.

“Reforms generally are not easy to come by, and the fruit, the results may not be really immediate,” he added.

Abdulaziz said families with several children in tertiary institutions could benefit from government-backed student loans, including support for upkeep, thereby reducing the financial burden on parents.

His comments came amid renewed political debate over the future of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy policy, particularly following Atiku’s reported pledge to review or restore the subsidy if elected in 2027.