Okonkwo Fires Back at Tinubu Over Atiku’s Fuel Subsidy Plan

Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesperson for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s 2027 presidential campaign, has hit back at President Bola Tinubu over comments criticising Atiku’s proposal to restore petrol subsidy if elected president.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Okonkwo said Tinubu misunderstood Atiku’s position, insisting that the proposal is aimed at making petrol more affordable for Nigerians and does not represent a return to the corruption associated with the old subsidy regime.

Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), had recently said he would restore petrol subsidy if elected in 2027. He also questioned the Tinubu administration over how the funds saved from the removal of subsidy had been utilised.

The comment triggered criticism, with opponents pointing to Atiku’s position ahead of the 2023 election, when he was reported to have supported the removal of petrol subsidy.

Reacting to Atiku’s latest proposal, Tinubu described it as evidence of “serious ignorance of governance and economy,” arguing that the removal of subsidy had helped states regain the ability to pay salaries and pensions.

But Okonkwo strongly rejected the President’s assessment.

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“The whole idea of the Atiku plan is affordability of fuel to the ordinary Nigerian,” he said.

He accused Tinubu of misunderstanding the policy and argued that Atiku’s proposed Atiku Fuel Affordability Plan (AFAP) is fundamentally different from the old subsidy system.

According to Okonkwo, the former subsidy regime was plagued by fuel importation, inflated import figures and alleged corruption. He maintained that Atiku would not seek to recreate such a system.

He explained that under the proposed plan, local refineries would be supplied with crude oil at fair prices, allowing them to produce petrol at lower costs for consumers.

Okonkwo also accused the Tinubu administration of failing to provide adequate crude oil to the Dangote Refinery, arguing that reliance on imported crude has contributed to high production costs and, ultimately, expensive petrol.

He further argued that Nigeria’s current economic hardship was largely driven by high production costs rather than demand-pull inflation.

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Okonkwo also used the controversy surrounding the alleged fake Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC) to attack Tinubu’s competence, accusing the President of being unaware of an agency allegedly provided for in his own budget.

The campaign spokesperson insisted that Atiku’s proposal should be viewed as an attempt to make fuel affordable through domestic refining and cheaper access to crude, rather than a return to the subsidy practices of the past.