Obi rejects Atiku’s plan to restore fuel subsidy

Presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, has rejected African Democratic Congress, ADC, candidate Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore fuel subsidy if elected in 2027.

Obi spoke at the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where opposition presidential hopefuls also exchanged views on insecurity, policing, the economy and fuel subsidy.

Atiku, who advocated the removal of subsidy during the 2023 presidential election, has now promised to restore it if elected.

Obi, however, said subsidy removal remained necessary, arguing that the real problem was the mismanagement of funds saved from the policy.

“I subscribe and I maintain that we need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds should not be the reason for not removing it.

“What we should have done is that when we removed it, we should have given the people alternative usage for the subsidy.

“What we have today is that that removal and the attendant resources being recovered is also being mismanaged and stolen,” he said.

He added: “Go to my manifesto, I said it before, I said I will do it in an organised manner and whatever we recover would be invested appropriately,” Obi said.

Former Rivers State governor and ADC vice-presidential candidate, Rotimi Amaechi, called for increased production and job creation to strengthen the economy.

African Action Congress, AAC, presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore said Nigeria needed a change of government, while criticising the way subsidy had been administered.

He said: “If there is anybody that has been consistent in the removal of fuel subsidy, it has been me. The question about fuel subsidy is: who are you subsidising? You are subsidising the elite. You are subsidising the governors.”

Social Democratic Party, SDP, candidate Adewale Adebayo backed a three-tier policing system involving federal, state and local authorities.

Former Cross River State governor Donald Duke said effective leadership was key to resolving the country’s problems.

“If we get the leadership right, everything else will fall into place,” Duke said.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, defended the administration’s proposed state police system, saying it would address weaknesses in Nigeria’s centralised policing structure.

“Centralised policing without safeguards will bring about more chaos,” he warned.

On concerns that state police could be abused by governors, Gbajabiamila asked: “Who polices the police?”