Atiku accuses Tinubu of turning Dangote refinery stance into campaign strategy
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration of turning Dangote Refinery’s legitimate business stance into a campaign strategy. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu on Friday, Atiku said Dangote was right to insist a private refinery cannot be forced to sell fuel below cost and absorb losses from government‑imposed prices, but claimed the Presidency was being deliberately dishonest by pretending that was his own plan.
Atiku reiterated his fuel subsidy proposal, arguing for a production subsidy model instead of the current import subsidy. He explained that import subsidy spends public money on petrol refined abroad, while a production subsidy supports crude refined in Nigeria, allowing local refineries to produce fuel more cheaply and Nigerians to pay less. Using a rice analogy, he said the government could either make imported rice cheaper or help Nigerian farmers lower production costs, with the latter creating jobs and keeping economic activity at home.
He noted that Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, and others have opposed his subsidy restoration idea. DAILY POST reports that Atiku had previously proposed restoring fuel subsidy, and that Nigerians have been told to endure three years without it. The debate comes as fuel prices remain a major cost of living concern for many households.
With fuel prices directly affecting household budgets, which approach do you believe would lower costs more effectively—supporting local refineries through a production subsidy or continuing to subsidise imported petrol?