Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has promised to bring back targeted and audited support for petrol refined in Nigeria, arguing that it would bring down pump prices, create jobs and ease the rising cost of transport and food for households.
In a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, the former Vice President accused the Tinubu administration of neglecting one of government’s most basic duties: protecting citizens from economic hardship.
Atiku said many families were now skipping meals, struggling to afford transport and seeing their earnings run out before the month ends, while the government “offers excuses instead of relief.”
He cited Germany as an example of a government responding to the problem, noting that it shares a border with France, which he described as President Bola Tinubu’s “new home.” Germany has reduced taxes on gasoline and diesel by €0.17 per litre between October and December, at an estimated cost of €2.5 billion, and prices at the pump have started to drop.
The statement said Tinubu’s Independence Day address showed how out of touch his government had become with the daily lives of Nigerians. Atiku said the President spoke of prosperity while defending policies that have put fuel and other essentials out of reach, and dismissed subsidies as “addictive.”
He also questioned the President’s claim that salaries and pensions have been paid “on time and in full,” pointing to reports of delays affecting federal workers and ongoing protests by pensioners.
“When petrol becomes more expensive, transport becomes more expensive. When transport costs rise, food and other essentials cost more. The hardship follows Nigerians from the filling station to the market and into their homes,” Atiku said.
“Germany understands that when fuel prices put families under pressure, the government must act. Nigerians deserve the same compassion and urgency.”
Outlining his plan, Atiku said his administration would restore targeted, budgeted support for locally refined fuel, with strict auditing and a guarantee that the benefit translates into lower pump prices.
The support, he said, would follow each barrel refined in Nigeria, creating jobs at home. It would be paid for by cutting waste, safeguarded against diversion and price manipulation, and would not extend to imported fuel.
The ADC candidate also apologised to Nigerians forced to choose between feeding their families, paying for transport and meeting other basic needs.
“You did not deserve this hardship. Tinubu made life unbearably expensive and called your suffering the price of reform. I will make life affordable again,” he said.
Atiku added that cheaper fuel could mean lower bus fares, more affordable goods in the market and more money left in family budgets, insisting that Nigeria’s wealth should ease the burden on its people. His promise, he said, is simple: “produce here, create jobs here and make life affordable again.”
