Isaac Samuel
The Presidency has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of playing politics with the issue of petrol subsidy, describing his recent pronouncements on the policy as confused and contradictory.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the assertion in a statement on Wednesday titled, “Atiku confused on petrol subsidy; third U-turn in one week shows he is simply playing politics.”
Onanuga said Nigerians had received three different explanations within one week on what an Atiku administration would do about petrol subsidy, describing the development as evidence of policy confusion.
According to him, Atiku’s spokesperson, Paul Ibe, initially said the former vice-president would restore petrol subsidy if elected president and later phase it out as a temporary intervention to allow Nigerians and businesses to recover.
He said another senior aide, Phrank Shaibu, subsequently described Ibe’s statement as an “unauthorised and misleading characterisation” of Atiku’s position.
Shaibu, Onanuga said, explained that Atiku would not set a predetermined date for ending subsidy, but would retain it until domestic refining expanded, supply stabilised, competition deepened and market conditions allowed affordable petrol prices without government support.
“Then just hours later, Atiku himself intervened and effectively overruled that clarification. He insisted that his position ‘has not changed’ and that he would restore what he called a ‘targeted subsidy’ if elected president,” Onanuga said.
He quoted Atiku as saying: “I will restore targeted subsidy and put purchasing power back in the hands of Nigerians.”
The presidential aide said the conflicting positions were not merely a matter of semantics but represented a serious policy contradiction.
“If Atiku’s position has not changed, why did one of his principal aides say the subsidy would be temporary and phased out? Why did another senior aide have to publicly disown that explanation and introduce a completely different framework based on market conditions? And why did Atiku then step in to reaffirm the original position?” he asked.
Onanuga urged the former vice-president to provide Nigerians with clarity on his proposed subsidy regime, including its cost, beneficiaries, funding mechanism and the economic conditions that would determine its eventual termination.
He also rejected the suggestion that restoring petrol subsidy alone would resolve Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis.
“Petrol does not become cheap simply because government orders a subsidy or because competition is expected to emerge,” he said, noting that international crude oil prices, exchange rates, refining costs, transportation, distribution and other market factors influence pump prices.
The presidential aide also challenged Atiku’s argument that rising petrol prices directly translate into higher transport and food costs, saying other factors contribute significantly to food inflation.
“Agricultural productivity, insecurity, exchange rates, logistics, storage, flooding, input costs, money supply and supply constraints also matter,” he said.
Onanuga further questioned Atiku’s proposal to provide discounted crude oil to refineries while subsidising petrol, arguing that crude oil refining produces several other petroleum products.
He said petrol accounts for about 45 per cent of the products obtained from a refined barrel of crude, while diesel accounts for roughly 25 per cent, with jet fuel and kerosene making up about nine per cent.
According to him, other products include base ingredients used for synthetic rubber, nylon, polyester and plastics, as well as asphalt, hydrocarbon gas liquids, lubricants, waxes, petroleum coke and sulphur.
“Will Atiku subsidise all these by-products of the barrel as well, since kerosene is used by the underprivileged to cook, and many homes and factories use diesel to power generators and delivery trucks?” Onanuga asked.
He also questioned whether refineries receiving discounted crude would be allowed to profit from the other products derived from the same crude while government focused its subsidy exclusively on petrol.
“The former Vice President is definitely suffering from a lack of basic understanding of his newfound policy prescription,” Onanuga said.
He urged Atiku to present what he described as a coherent, costed and workable petroleum policy, warning against what he called “policy somersaults, incoherence, destructive populism and election gimmicks.”
“The economy is too serious for policy somersaults, incoherence, destructive populism and election gimmicks,” the presidential aide said.
