Fuel Subsidy: “Shocked” Atiku Fires Tinubu as FG Reveals It is Still Backing Downstream Consumption

• Nigerian opposition leader, Atiku Abubakar, has tackled the Bola Tinubu-led government on the alleged payment of the fuel subsidy
• In a statement issued via X on Wednesday, June 5, the former vice president expressed shock that the government is still supporting downstream consumption
• In yet another criticism of the ruling government, Atiku told Tinubu that "Nigerians deserve better than this deception"

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering governance and politics.

FCT, Abuja - Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 and 2023 elections, has reiterated that President Bola Tinubu’s government should “come clean on the actual position of the (fuel) subsidy policy”.

Atiku, in a statement on Wednesday, June 5, which he personally signed, said “if the subsidy regime had been characterised by opaqueness, what would we say of a situation where the subsidy is still being paid under the cover without Nigerians in the know?”

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The presidential hopeful stated that "like millions of Nigerians", he was surprised to learn through media reports that the “government is still supporting downstream consumption.”

Recall that Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, recently presented the Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP) to his principal.

In what appears to be the first official acknowledgement that the Tinubu administration has continued subsidising premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as fuel, the plan revealed that the “government is still supporting downstream consumption.”

Reacting, Atiku accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of deception.

Atiku’s statement partly reads:

“Now we know that expenditure on fuel subsidy may reach N5.4 trillion in 2024, compared to the N3.6 trillion spent in 2023, the same year that Tinubu claimed to have abolished fuel subsidy.

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“I wish to restate that Nigeria is not working, and what we have had in a little over a year is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies. Paying subsidies and lying about it is nothing to brag about. Nigerians deserve better than this deception.”

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Fuel subsidy removal necessary for Nigeria

Legit.ng earlier reported that President Tinubu said fuel subsidy removal saved Nigeria from going bankrupt.

Tinubu stated that the decision of his administration to discontinue fuel subsidy payments was in the interest of the people.

Source: Legit.ng