Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has explained his plan to restore the petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027, arguing that Nigerians have not been shown how the money saved from its removal has been used.
Atiku, who is the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, made the remarks in an interview with BBC Hausa published on Friday while discussing the economic difficulties facing Nigerians.
He said he did not oppose the removal of the subsidy itself but questioned what had happened to the funds the policy was expected to save.
“I did not oppose the removal of the oil subsidy, but where is the money? Where did it go?” Atiku asked.
According to him, the funds should have been used to improve Nigerians’ welfare, particularly by reducing poverty and supporting education.
“It was intended to reduce poverty and help children attend school. Where is the money now?” he asked.
Atiku argued that although the government successfully removed the subsidy, it had not adequately demonstrated how the resulting resources were being used.
“It seems they are just stealing it,” he alleged.
Atiku Links Subsidy Restoration To Economic Hardship
Atiku said one of the main reasons he wants to restore the subsidy is to ease the financial pressure being experienced by Nigerians.
Asked what measures he would introduce to support vulnerable citizens amid food shortages, poverty and other economic difficulties, the former vice president again pointed to the funds he believes should have been used to improve living conditions.
“They talk about 30 trillion, where is the money, what was done with it?” he asked.
He said the resources should have been directed towards programmes designed to reduce poverty, unemployment and insecurity.
According to Atiku, the outcome of subsidy removal would have been different if the savings had been invested effectively in development.
“If they had used the money for development, to solve security problems, for education, and to create opportunities for the youth, it would be different,” he said.
$10bn Youth Empowerment Proposal
Atiku also connected his argument to youth unemployment, saying more resources should be invested in helping young Nigerians become economically independent.
He recalled that during the 2023 presidential election campaign, he proposed setting aside $10bn to provide young people with capital for various businesses.
“At that time, when we calculated it, we estimated that allocating $10 billion… the programs we could build for the youth would ultimately reduce hardship for nearly 70 to 80 percent of the beneficiaries through the programs we intended to run,” he said.
He questioned why similar resources had not been used to tackle youth unemployment and improve economic opportunities.
“Steps should have been taken to reduce poverty, curb youth unemployment, and tackle insecurity, among other issues,” he said.
Atiku Says Subsidy Savings Should Fund Security and Education
The ADC candidate also identified insecurity as another area where he believes savings from subsidy removal should have been invested.
He said the government should have channelled the resources into tackling security challenges while simultaneously improving education and creating economic opportunities.
“The government successfully removed the subsidy, but we do not know where the money went,” he said.
He repeated his view that the policy could have produced better results if the savings had been properly invested.
“If they had used the money for development, to solve security problems, for education, and to create opportunities for the youth, it would be different,” Atiku said.
Atiku maintained that his criticism was not simply about the removal of the subsidy but about what he described as a failure to use the resulting resources to improve Nigerians’ lives.
He said that, if elected, his administration would restore the subsidy while ensuring that public resources were properly deployed to address poverty, insecurity, unemployment and other challenges.
“If elected, I will bring back the oil subsidy, and whoever stole the money must refund it,” he said.
He added, “If elected, I can remove the subsidy and use the money to do all these properly.”
Fuel Subsidy Becomes Key 2027 Election Issue
Atiku’s comments come amid an increasingly heated political debate over the economic consequences of the petrol subsidy removal introduced by President Bola Tinubu shortly after he assumed office in 2023.
Atiku has repeatedly challenged the Federal Government to account for the resources generated by the policy, while the government has defended the decision and argued that subsidy removal was necessary to address fiscal pressures.
The issue has since become a major point of debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election, with Atiku maintaining that he would restore the subsidy if elected.
A presidential aide has criticised the proposal, arguing that bringing back the subsidy could create additional fiscal challenges for the government.
The wider debate has also focused on how the additional revenue generated after the subsidy removal has been distributed and utilised.
Recent reports cited the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, as saying the removal of the subsidy mobilised N15.8tn in resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
