Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his comments on the former vice president’s plan to review the removal of fuel subsidy.
Tinubu had described Atiku’s proposal to restore fuel subsidy as a sign of “serious ignorance” of governance and the economy.
The President made the remark on Thursday while receiving Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Reacting through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku accused the Tinubu administration of worsening the economic hardship faced by Nigerians.
Shaibu said the removal of fuel subsidy, combined with exchange-rate changes, had increased transport and production costs and reduced the purchasing power of households.
He argued that Atiku was not proposing a return to the old subsidy system but a targeted and time-bound support programme tied to domestic fuel production.
According to him, the proposed system would be capped, budgeted and independently audited to reduce abuse and corruption.
Atiku also questioned the claim that fuel subsidy had been completely removed, citing reported energy-security costs and petroleum under-recoveries in the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
He said Nigerians were bearing the impact of higher fuel and food prices while governments were receiving increased allocations from the Federation Account.
“You do not build a federation by impoverishing citizens so that Abuja can send bigger cheques to governors,” Atiku said.
He maintained that any economic policy should be reviewed when its impact on citizens changes, insisting that his proposal was aimed at reducing the hardship caused by rising fuel and living costs.