Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the SBM Intelligence survey on removal of subsidy, is a damning verdict on President Bola Tinubu’s administration policy.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr Phrank Shaibu, noted that 67.4 per cent of respondents want petrol subsidy restored.
According to him, survey showed that the administration removed subsidy without a plan, and condemned millions of Nigerians to unprecedented hardship.
“This survey is no longer merely about economic policy. It has become a democratic question.
“When an overwhelming majority of Nigerians declare that a government policy is destroying their lives, responsible leadership must listen,” Atiku said.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) 2027 presidential candidate noted that petrol has become the second-most cited national problem, adding that Tinubu administration’s misersble 1.69 out of four score made it the worse worst-rated policy issue.
Atiku said the figure is more than an economic statistic, but represents the growing majority of Nigerians who have rejected Tinubu’s economic philosophy.
The former vice president said what that means is that majority of Nigerians embraced his alternative vision of a government that protects its citizens rather than abandons them to the cruelties of the market.
“This survey is not merely about percentages. It is the collective cry of Nigerian families who can no longer afford food, workers whose salaries disappear on transportation, farmers who cannot move their produce to market and businesses collapsing under the weight of fuel and energy costs,” he added.
The ADC candidate noted that for three and a half years, Nigerians have suffered under Tinubu’s reckless removal of fuel subsidy policy.
“Transport costs have exploded. Food prices have soared. Businesses have collapsed. Purchasing power has been destroyed, and millions of families have been pushed deeper into poverty.
“The survey simply confirms what Nigerians already know (that) Tinubu’s fuel policy has caused far more harm than good.
“The policy has been rejected, and the government responsible for it must also be rejected,” Atiku said.
The former vice president said the survey revealed 32.4 per cent of rural respondents identified petrol as their primary concern, compared with 11.7 per cent in urban areas.
“Petrol also emerged as the leading concern in the South West, at 30.5 per cent, and the South-South, at 29.1 per cent, clear evidence that the suffering caused by Tinubu’s fuel policy cuts across geography, ethnicity and political affiliation,” he added.
Atiku said President Tinubu removed subsidy as a slogan, not a strategy, stating that he had no plan for domestic refining, mass transportation, wage protection or the millions of small businesses that depend on affordable energy.
He recalled that he had warned that the reckless approach would destroy purchasing power, increase transportation costs, worsen food inflation and push more Nigerians into poverty.
Atiku told Tinubu that his administration could no longer hide behind manipulated statistics, propaganda and exaggerated claims about its CNG programme while Nigerians continued to pay unbearable prices for petrol and transportation.
“Nigerians do not eat GDP figures. A mother cannot take FAAC allocations to the market. A worker cannot fuel his vehicle with presidential promises. Any economic reform that does not improve the lives of the people has failed,” he said.
According to him, that is where his policy is different, alleging that while Tinubu believes in imposing higher taxes, withdrawing every form of protection and exposing citizens to the full force of an economic crisis his government helped to create, he (Atiku) believes that government has a duty to protect its people, strengthen domestic production and shield vulnerable families from devastating economic shocks.
“If elected, from May 29, 2027, I will introduce a transparent production subsidy for petroleum products refined in Nigeria and sold to Nigerians.
“Imports will not qualify. The programme will have a fixed spending limit, National Assembly approval and independent audits. Its purpose will be to reduce fuel prices, strengthen domestic refining, create Nigerian jobs and restore the purchasing power that this administration has destroyed.
“The 67.4 per cent demanding relief represents a democratic majority. On the strength of that democratic mandate, we will replace Tinubu’s policy of punishment with a policy of production, protection and affordability,” Atiku said.
