HURIWA Supports Subsidy Return, Wants Probe Of N15.8tn Savings

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has thrown its weight behind a temporary return of petrol subsidy, provided the scheme is transparently administered, while demanding an independent investigation into the N15.8 trillion the Federal Government says was freed by the removal of the subsidy.

The group said the current hardship faced by Nigerians had made it necessary for government to consider measures that could bring down fuel prices and ease pressure on households and businesses.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated this in a statement issued on Monday, arguing that subsidy itself should not be treated as the problem.

According to the organisation, the major failure of the previous arrangement was the alleged corruption and abuse that enabled profiteers and politically connected interests to benefit from the scheme at the expense of the wider population.

It said removing subsidy should not translate into shifting the consequences of past mismanagement to ordinary Nigerians who are already battling high transportation costs, rising food prices, unemployment and declining purchasing power.

HURIWA’s position comes against the backdrop of renewed debate over the policy following former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s declaration that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has also questioned what has happened to the money saved since the subsidy was removed, arguing that the funds should have been deployed to address poverty, insecurity, education and youth unemployment.

HURIWA said the question deserved a clear answer, particularly because of discrepancies in figures being presented about the savings.

The Federal Government has said subsidy removal generated N15.8 trillion in resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.

However, HURIWA drew attention to a petition by the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Assembly alleging a N12 trillion discrepancy in the figures.

The rights group said the allegation should be independently examined rather than dismissed as political manoeuvring.

It demanded that the government provide Nigerians with verifiable details of the amount saved, the funds distributed to the Federal Government, states and local governments, and how the resources were eventually spent.

“HURIWA demands that the federal government tell Nigerians, with verifiable documents, exactly how much it saved from subsidy removal, how much it distributed among the three tiers of government, and how the funds were ultimately spent,” the statement said.

The organisation called for a comprehensive and independently verifiable audit covering revenues and savings attributed to subsidy removal from May 2023 to date.

It also wants the government to publish details of the beneficiaries, projects and programmes financed with the resources.

HURIWA argued that the claimed increase in government revenue would have little meaning for citizens if it did not result in tangible improvements in their living conditions.

The group said Nigerians were still contending with high transport fares, expensive food, rising production costs, unemployment and weaker purchasing power, despite the government’s claims of increased fiscal resources.

It said fuel prices had implications far beyond motorists, noting that changes in petrol prices feed directly into transportation, agriculture, food distribution, manufacturing and the operations of small businesses.

The organisation also questioned the continued high cost of petrol in Nigeria, despite the country’s status as a major crude oil producer and recent efforts to expand domestic refining.

It maintained that eliminating corruption from the subsidy system did not require abandoning the idea of protecting vulnerable Nigerians from excessive fuel costs.

Rather, it proposed the use of transparent pricing mechanisms, tighter verification, technology-based monitoring, independent audits and prosecution of officials or individuals found to have defrauded the public.

HURIWA also rejected the argument that subsidy removal had automatically addressed corruption, saying the controversy surrounding the management of the claimed savings had created fresh accountability concerns.

It therefore called on the EFCC and the National Assembly to investigate the conflicting figures and make their findings public.

The group further urged the Federal Government to open relevant financial records and provide a detailed account of how the resources generated since subsidy removal had been managed.

HURIWA said Nigerians had made significant sacrifices since the removal of the subsidy and should be able to see clear evidence of what those sacrifices had achieved.

It argued that the choice should not be between affordable fuel and corruption, insisting that the government could protect consumers while putting safeguards in place to prevent the abuse that characterised the previous system.

“The choice should not be between subsidy and corruption. Nigeria can have affordable fuel, transparent subsidy administration, and strict accountability at the same time,” HURIWA said.

The organisation maintained that a temporary, properly monitored subsidy regime could provide relief to vulnerable citizens while longer-term reforms aimed at strengthening domestic refining capacity and reducing dependence on imported petrol were pursued.

It consequently demanded urgent disclosure of the subsidy savings, an independent audit of the funds and accountability for every naira generated or distributed under the policy.

HURIWA said the government owed Nigerians a full explanation of how the trillions of naira it said had been saved were managed, particularly as citizens continued to bear the economic burden associated with higher fuel prices.