Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, expressed his backing for President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove subsidy on petrol.
However, Atiku criticized the president’s approach, highlighting the absence of measures to provide relief for Nigerian citizens before implementing the policy.
Speaking to PDP officials in Bauchi State on Saturday, Atiku revealed that he chaired the committee that recommended subsidy removal during the PDP government.
He explained that their approach involved gradually removing the subsidy while offering palliatives to mitigate its impact on the most affected individuals. Atiku emphasized that the PDP government would have followed a similar course of action.
According to the former Vice President, “Between 1999 and 2007, the PDP government initiated the petroleum subsidy removal, and I chaired the committee. We achieved subsidy removal in two phases, but only after providing palliatives to those most affected by the subsidy removal.
We have the experience as a party in government. That is what we would have done, and not simply announcing subsidy removal without engaging in discussions with the sectors of the economy that would be affected.
I believe Nigerians should appreciate what they have temporarily lost.”
President Tinubu, upon assuming office, declared that “fuel subsidy is gone,” citing the absence of provisions for subsidy in the budget he inherited.
