A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Timi Frank, has asked President Bola Tinubu to apologise to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Nigerians, arguing that the Federal Government’s 30-day petrol discount has revived questions about its opposition to restoring fuel subsidy.
Frank said the temporary discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail outlets amounted to a retreat from the administration’s earlier hardline position on subsidy removal, which Tinubu announced in May 2023.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, he argued that the government should acknowledge Atiku’s proposal to restore subsidy as a measure to cushion Nigerians against rising fuel prices and the wider cost-of-living crisis.
“We expect Tinubu and his government to first apologise to Atiku Abubakar for its previous attacks on his position to return fuel subsidy if voted into office as President,” he said.
Frank also urged the President to commend Atiku for proposing what he described as a practical response to the economic hardship facing Nigerians.
The Federal Government announced the 30-day petrol discount on Thursday, with priority given to public transport operators.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said the arrangement was not a return to subsidy but an offer to sell petrol at cost for an initial period of 30 days.
Frank, however, questioned the distinction between the temporary intervention and the subsidy policy the government had abolished.
“Simply put, Tinubu, who maintained a hardline stance on fuel subsidy removal, has gone back to his vomit,” he said.
He called on the President to apologise for the economic consequences of the 2023 policy change, arguing that higher petrol prices had pushed up transportation, food and business costs.
According to Frank, the 30-day arrangement would not by itself reverse the financial pressure households and businesses had endured since subsidy removal.
He also demanded clarification on the number of NNPCL outlets participating in the scheme, the volume of petrol to be sold at discounted rates and what would happen when the initiative expires.
Frank said the government needed to explain how the intervention would deliver sustained relief to transport operators, traders, workers and low-income households rather than provide only temporary respite.
The dispute has revived debate over Atiku’s position on petrol subsidy ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
In August, Atiku reiterated his stance, declaring, “On the question of subsidy, my position has not changed and will not change: I will restore it!”
The Presidency had challenged the proposal, questioning its fiscal and legal basis and how a restored subsidy would avoid the problems associated with the previous arrangement.
Frank argued that the latest intervention had strengthened the case for considering measures to shield Nigerians from high fuel and transportation costs.
“But now, having seen the light in Atiku’s proposal, Tinubu simply came down off his high horse and adopted the idea without any acknowledgments,” he said.
The former APC spokesman warned that Nigerians would judge the government by the practical impact of its policies, not by whether it described the latest intervention as a discount rather than a subsidy.
He urged the administration to develop a longer-term response to the cost-of-living crisis, insisting that Nigerians needed sustained economic relief rather than a measure scheduled to last only 30 days.