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Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential contender Peter Obi has addressed the ongoing controversy surrounding the discontinuation of petroleum subsidies executed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
The federal government officially terminated the subsidy arrangement on May 29, 2023, when President Tinubu famously asserted that the subsidy had ended.
That policy shift immediately triggered a steep surge in public transportation costs, food items, and basic household goods across the country.
Public reaction has remained heavily divided, with certain groups applauding the fiscal adjustment while critics argue it has severely worsened economic hardship for ordinary citizens.
In recent developments, African Democratic Congress presidential hopeful Atiku Abubakar announced during a live Hausa-language broadcast on Facebook that he intends to reintroduce the subsidy if he wins the 2027 election, claiming the removal has failed to benefit the population.
Taking a different position during a Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Obi argued that the poor handling of saved funds should not serve as an excuse to scrap the policy entirely.
He insisted that the government’s primary failure was neglecting to channel the recovered revenue into tangible alternative support systems for the public.
“I subscribe and maintain that you need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds shouldn’t be the reason for not removing it.
“What we should have done is that when we removed the subsidy, we would have given the people alternative usage for the subsidy.
“What we have today is that, that removal and the attendant resources being recovered is also being mismanaged and stolen. For example, we have received, according to them, N16 trillion,” Obi stated.
The former Anambra State executive noted that his own political platform would have implemented a structured phase-out while directly investing fiscal savings into citizen welfare.
He rebuked the current leadership for squandering financial windfalls while vital sectors like public health remain severely neglected.
“The number one thing a nation needs to develop is health. But today, our health is very poor, our primary care is very poor, where we are now, we have more maternal and child issues than countries like India.
“Assuming, let me use five percent, you said that they saved N15.8 trillion. So, according to them, N16 trillion. So, five percent of that is just about N800 billion,” he explained.
Obi further pointed out that modest allocations from the massive savings could have easily funded primary healthcare centers in every electoral ward and dramatically expanded essential medical infrastructure, such as kidney dialysis machines.
He calculated that disciplined management of the subsidy removal could have substantially boosted the nation’s financial reserves.
“If they had saved the money and decided to do like any other country, we would have had $10 billion added to our sovereign wealth fund, which, if you add it today, we will get about $10 billion every month, which we can use for a purpose,” he noted.
Wrapping up his address, he criticized political leaders for urging citizens to endure severe austerity while government officials continue to indulge in extravagant spending.
“So, don’t say because people use the money they are supposed to utilise very well for party, and you say no, we should bring back.
“What I’ve said is that people in government have asked Nigerians to fast. Okay. They cannot be feasting when Nigerians are fasting,” Obi concluded.
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