By Our Correspondent
Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has rejected former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore petrol subsidy, insisting that the subsidy should remain removed and that the savings from its removal must instead be properly invested for the benefit of Nigerians.
Obi said the problem was not the removal of the subsidy itself, but the alleged mismanagement of the funds saved from its removal.
According to him, the resources should have been redirected to critical sectors such as healthcare, education, security and other public services that directly improve the lives of citizens.
He said the Federal Government had reported receiving about ₦16 trillion from subsidy savings, questioning why Nigerians were not seeing sufficient benefits from the huge resources.
Obi also argued that restoring the subsidy simply because the savings were allegedly mismanaged would not address the underlying problem.
Rather, he said the government should ensure that the funds recovered from subsidy removal were transparently and productively deployed for the benefit of Nigerians.
His position puts him at odds with Atiku, who recently said he would restore a targeted petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027, arguing that the measure would help restore Nigerians’ purchasing power.
Obi’s position, however, brings him closer to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy, although he has strongly criticised the alleged mismanagement of the savings from the policy.
