National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has faulted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to reverse the removal of petrol subsidy, describing the move as a policy U-turn that raises questions about the opposition’s readiness to govern.
Yilwatda spoke on Sunday during a visit to the headquarters of the City Boy Movement in Abuja, where he inspected the organisation’s facilities and interacted with its leadership.
He said Nigerians deserve more than campaign promises, insisting that any plan to restore subsidy payments must be subjected to close scrutiny given the fiscal strain and economic distortions the regime previously caused.
“Economic policy cannot be reduced to election season promises. Nigerians deserve to know precisely where the money will come from, what sectors will bear the cost and whether such a policy can be sustained without reopening the fiscal pressures that necessitated reform in the first place,” he said.
The APC chairman noted that the opposition had, for over three years, failed to present a coherent governing agenda, and described it as suspicious that Atiku was only now, months to the 2027 election, proposing a reversal capable of setting the country’s economic progress back.
He maintained that subsidy removal, though difficult, was a necessary reform that required complementary measures such as social intervention programmes and support for productive sectors of the economy.
According to him, true leadership lies not in promising immediate relief for electoral gain but in taking hard decisions and explaining them honestly to citizens.
He urged Nigerians to distinguish between policies targeting structural problems and those offering short-term appeal at the cost of long-term stability.
Yilwatda, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, also criticised what he described as a lack of ideological consistency among opposition politicians, contrasting this with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima, whom he said had remained within the progressive political tradition.
He said the Tinubu administration had taken tough economic decisions aimed at repositioning the economy, attracting investment and reducing dependence on unsustainable interventions, warning that reversing such reforms without a credible alternative could hurt investor confidence and worsen fiscal pressure.
The APC chairman further urged Nigerians to scrutinise the records of presidential aspirants, including issues around Atiku and former President Olusegun Obasanjo relating to the privatisation exercise carried out during the Obasanjo administration.
He said the 2027 election should be decided on ideas, competence and credible alternatives rather than last-minute promises, adding that the APC remains committed to policies that build a productive and investment-friendly economy while remaining open to constructive criticism.
