2027: APC Slams Atiku Over Promise To Restore Fuel Subsidy

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, over his promise to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027, accusing the former vice president of abandoning his earlier position on the policy.

APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, described the pledge as a desperate attempt to win votes ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Atiku had said during an interview on Wednesday that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected, arguing that Nigerians had yet to see the benefits of the savings from its removal.

“If I win the presidential election, I will restore the subsidy. And anyone who stole Nigeria’s subsidy funds must return the money,” Atiku said.

He also questioned the whereabouts of funds generated following the removal of the subsidy by President Bola Tinubu in May 2023, arguing that the resources should have been used to reduce poverty and improve education, security and employment.

Atiku’s position represents a significant shift from his stance during the 2023 presidential campaign, when he had backed the removal of petrol subsidy, saying he would scrap it within his first 100 days in office if elected.

Reacting in a post on X on Thursday, Morka accused the former vice president of “backflipping” on his earlier position and described the pledge as an indication of desperation ahead of the 2027 election.

“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has backflipped from his 2023 policy support for fuel subsidy removal to a promise to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027,” Morka said.

He argued that the proposal showed Atiku was out of touch with Nigeria’s economic realities and the need for reforms, while accusing him of failing to offer an alternative economic policy.

Morka described the pledge as “desperation of the most pitiful kind” and accused the former vice president of resorting to populism in an attempt to gain political support.

He also defended the economic reforms of the Tinubu administration, saying Atiku’s position amounted to “willful blindness” to what he described as transformative progress under the current government.

According to the APC spokesman, the former vice president was “grossly bereft of ideas of alternative economic policy prescription” and was “grasping at straws of misplaced populism.”

Morka further predicted that the position could contribute to what he described as Atiku’s “final defeat” in the 2027 election.

The renewed dispute over subsidy comes amid growing political arguments over the financial gains from the policy and whether Nigerians have benefited sufficiently from its removal.

The Federal Government has said the removal of petrol subsidy generated N15.8 trillion for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025, according to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.

Atiku, however, has questioned the government’s accounting for the resources and demanded greater transparency over federation revenues, deductions and savings.

The subsidy was removed by Tinubu on May 29, 2023, shortly after he assumed office, resulting in a sharp increase in petrol prices and significant increases in transportation and living costs.

The administration has maintained that ending the subsidy was necessary to free resources for development and strengthen government finances, while opposition politicians have continued to criticise the hardship associated with the reform.

President Tinubu also weighed into the controversy on Thursday, describing Atiku’s pledge to restore the subsidy as evidence of what he called “serious ignorance” of governance and the economy.

The dispute has further placed fuel subsidy at the centre of the emerging 2027 presidential contest, with Atiku presenting its restoration as part of his proposed response to the cost-of-living crisis and the APC defending the Tinubu administration’s decision to abolish it.

With the 2027 election drawing closer, the competing positions are likely to make the future of fuel pricing, subsidy savings and broader economic reforms key issues in the campaign.