Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the Federal Government’s planned 30 day fuel discount at NNPC stations, calling it a desperate and temporary move ahead of the election that fails to address the real cost of living crisis.
In a statement by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku said the Tinubu administration watched Nigerians struggle under excruciating hardship caused by high fuel prices without offering meaningful relief, only to now dangle a short term discount.
He described the initiative as a panic driven publicity stunt and a political bandage on a wound the government helped create.
“Atiku totally rejects this calendar scheduled, election laced subsidy package. Nigerians are not fools to be offered a month of discounted fuel after years of punishing prices and then expected to forget the hardship when the discount expires. This is shameless and heartless,” he said.
Atiku questioned what happens after the 30 day window lapses.
“What happens on Day 31? Nigerians wake up to the same brutal prices, the same punishing transport fares and the same rising cost of food. The government cannot manufacture relief for one month and expect Nigerians to applaud while the hardship remains,” he stated.
The former Vice President also pointed to gaps in the policy, noting that the discount is limited to NNPC stations, with no clarity on how much motorists will save per litre and no guarantee that any savings for transport operators will translate into lower fares for passengers.
He said the sudden shift amounts to an admission that the hardship is real and undermines the government’s earlier claims that meaningful relief was impossible.
“This volte face proves that the production support proposal I have advanced is workable, achievable and not complicated. The Tinubu government and its spin doctors have tried to make it sound impossible, yet they are now reaching for a temporary subsidy style intervention because the pain has become impossible to ignore,” he said.
Atiku reiterated his alternative proposal for capped and budgeted production support linked to fuel refined in Nigeria, with safeguards to ensure benefits reach consumers and boost local refining.
“Nigerians need lasting relief, not a countdown to the return of hardship. Tinubu’s government cannot spend years telling Nigerians to endure, then offer 30 days of relief and call it a solution,” he said.
“Tinubu made life expensive. I will make life affordable again,” he added.
